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Ready at Dawn responds to "concern" over The Order: 1886 campaign length

Papilloma

Member
My experience with Dragon Age Inquisition was that it was far too long and fragmented to be worth playing through to completion. I spent 8 hrs with it and gave up. I don't have time for sprawling open-world games that take 100 hours to complete. I'll leave that kind of game to children and adults without responsibility.

Hello, grown adult here with plenty of responsibility, and I've enjoyed sinking a fair amount of my precious leisure time into Dragon Age. Just because it isn't worth your time doesn't make it for children and feckless adults.....
 

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
Only a sliver of Gaf will finish The Order in 5 hours.

The majority of us who are interested in this game will savour every moment and drink in the atmosphere, world and story created by RAD. That's a guaranteed 8 hour playthrough minimum.

Holy shit. LOL

This is some top tier level fanatic stuff.
 

Talon

Member
Things are pretty diverse already. We get lots of $5-20 games on the digital front and the Day 1 pricing for premium games doesn't take long to drop from $60 to $50, to $40 or even $30 within weeks or months. Sales and discounts are abundant - the opening price should hardly be treated like the hard and fast rule for the determination of a game's value. In all likelihood, most games will likely spend more time on the market selling for significantly less than their Day 1 pricing.

If we "desperately" need anything, it's a little patience and self-control. Stop marching to the drumbeat that the only time a game is worthwhile is on Day 1.
Honestly, I can't remember the last game I bought for more than $35. I usually wait 3-6 months post release because I'm pretty busy.

That said, the launch window is such a critical sales period for your game, I feel strongly that the ASP would hold higher if these single player experiences would swallow the pill and launch at $40 out of the door.
Only a sliver of Gaf will finish The Order in 5 hours.

The majority of us who are interested in this game will savour every moment and drink in the atmosphere, world and story created by RAD. That's a guaranteed 8 hour playthrough minimum.

Can't wait for this as I've been dying for a solid single player experience, need to get the nasty open world taste of AC Unity from my mouth.
A fan or an employee?
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Early impressions indicate that there are a lot of cutscenes and QTE. Probably not a game for me.
I love this post. Not even kidding. So many debates about this game would be far less heated if "meh, not for me" was the reaction instead of making wide generalizations about quality, people's reasons for looking forward to the game, or value.
 

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
My experience with Dragon Age Inquisition was that it was far too long and fragmented to be worth playing through to completion. I spent 8 hrs with it and gave up. I don't have time for sprawling open-world games that take 100 hours to complete. I'll leave that kind of game to children and adults without responsibility
Really tired of these blanket accusations against people, earlier in the thread a user referred to everyone who enjoys open world games as "No-lifers" and now you try to tell me that I'm either a child or someone with no responsibility. I can't stand passive aggressive insults.
 

ClearData

Member
I'm just so tired of the controversy, hand wringing, and concern trolling over this game. I've tried to keep out of every thread but it seems a new one pops up ever two days.

I have my copy preordered. I've seen enough to know the game suits my tastes. I know I am taking a calculated risk just like anyone else who preorders anything ever.

If you have concerns over length, game play or some other elements? Wait for the reviews to drop and go from there. That is what they are there for.

With every leaked playthrough, Trophy profile or some such other BS I feel like we have gotten so far from what it really means to be a gamer that buys or borrows a copy of something, pops in the game, plays it and gets the most valuable opinion possible: their own.
 

Freeman

Banned
I love this post. Not even kidding. So many debates about this game would be far less heated if "meh, not for me" was the reaction instead of making wide generalizations about quality, people's reasons for looking forward to the game, or value.
Yep. Most people just show up with some hard "facts", most if not all without having played the game.
 
Really tired of these blanket accusations against people, earlier in the thread a user referred to everyone who enjoys open world games as "No-lifers" and now you try to tell me that I'm either a child or someone with no responsibility. I can't stand passive aggressive insults.

Almost up there with the 'people who don't have enough real-life friends to play Destiny with have clinical social issues'.

Almost.

But seriously, I'm not getting the 'rage' here. If it doesn't look worth the asking price, than wait for the bomba prices. Doesn't mean don't discuss the value of it as a $60 game, as subjective as it is. But people aren't being forced to buy Day 1. Hell, the whole fucking mantra of GAF the past 2-3 years has been 'No Pre-Orders' and no blind purchases. Length also doesn't indicated quality, nor the only metric for value. Some people prefer shorter, linear games.

Edit: Also a good point that if you have no interest in linear games or the genre of the game in question, you probably shouldn't be in the discussion if that's all you're bringing into it.
 

Ogimachi

Member
The comparison is just silly. If it's just like film, at which point can it be considered a feature film or a short one?
Sorry, 3-5 hours is a joke at $60.
 

Apathy

Member
Wow people are defending these practices?? I thought i had seen everything. Really hope this game doesn't sell, the gameplay seems mediocre. I will probably rent it for a day to rush through it and return it the same afternoon

Here you go GAF, totally unbiased consumer. Really you hope a game does not sell well? Yes let's hope it affects the company that made it because you don't like it for irrational reasons.
 

prwxv3

Member
I love this post. Not even kidding. So many debates about this game would be far less heated if "meh, not for me" was the reaction instead of making wide generalizations about quality, people's reasons for looking forward to the game, or value.

I dont understand the vitriol. If you think its just a boring linear TPS then you can just ignore it and focus on something else.
 
MGS GZ is short, it's very short, however, the game is designed first and foremost with a "play it your way" style in mind and is set in a mini sandbox with lots of different routes and passage ways, which encourages replayability heavily as the gameplay takes priority over the story during general play, i.e.detection doesn't=instant fail try again. Also things like challenges to complete and hidden levels. We should really stop using short games designed with a ton of gameplay replayability in mind as comparisons.

I agree that it's not a perfect comparison. My point was that there was more to do than just that one campaign playthrough. I don't know the extent of what The Order will offer, but I am sure it is more than what was in the 5 hour play through.

I feel the same people who paid $30 for Ground Zeroes, played that main mission in 1 hour or so, and traded it in are the same people who will pay $60 for The Order, play through it in 5-6 hours and be done with it. More power to them. There is more the experience in the game though.
 

JustenP88

I earned 100 Gamerscore™ for collecting 300 widgets and thereby created Trump's America
One thing I find odd is we have a guy who actually played the game who was told by someone who watched the YouTube video that
the last 5 chapters were only cutscenes
which the GAFfer who played it said is absolutely false. So... Wtf? How do we get that mixed up?
 

Cavalier

Banned
I'm almost finished watching one of the youtube play-throughs and... it does seem like there isn't much to explore mainly because most of the time players are forced to travel through very linear levels.

Also, there are lots of cinematic cutscenes and gameplay sequences where all you do is just walk through the linear set of levels.

I'm still getting this game when I get my PS4 later this year however. Graphics look great, but hopefully they improve on this formula next time around.
 

Moosehole

Member
Idk about any of this, but this is at least twice this issue has come up now... Honestly The Order has not interested me since it's announcement so I'll be staying away regardless.

Hope everyone looking forward to the game enjoys it, though.
 

Aces&Eights

Member
Jesus Jumped Up Christ.

People.

There is this little thing called, "SELL YOUR GAME WHEN YOU ARE DONE"

See, there are these magical places called Best Buy, Game and Gamestop and, (hold on to your butt) they will pay you REAL MONEY for your game when you are done playing it. So, for all of you folks who have had your hearts ripped out that the game is $60.00 whole dollars and is only going to be 5 and a half hours long, this is your salvation. Buy the game Friday night after work. Go home and beat it. Wake up Saturday morning and go sell it back for $40.00. This means you will only be out $20.00. I cannot think of anyone who would disagree that $20.00 is too expensive to be able to play the entire game of The Order:1886.

Also, there ARE people out here in the universe who believe $60.00 is not too expensive for a great SP 5.3728 hour campaign. It is all about one's priorities. My buddy goes out on Sunday and spends $60 on beer and pizza and watches a football game. Total time spent is about 4 hours. I know of people who spend $100.00 to go see Dave Matthews play a 2 hour set. Both of these people are ridiculous IMO but they probably would say the same for me buying The Order.

Opinions, priorities and desires. We are all different.

Christ.
 
One thing I find odd is we have a guy who actually played the game who was told by someone who watched the YouTube video that
the last 5 chapters were only cutscenes
which the GAFfer who played it said is absolutely false. So... Wtf? How do we get that mixed up?

That is false and the videos prove it, so whoever watched that wasn't paying attention. Only true for some of those chapters, not all.
 
Vanquish has multiple difficulty modes and an arena battle mode that's god damn fantastic. It has replay value. Every single game comparison I've seen brought up is a false equivalence.

Portal - The game was a free bundled game or 20 dollars.
Vanquish - See above.
MGS4 - Was twice as long as this, packed with extra content and did have a multiplayer mode
COD (Made by the devs no less) - Multiplayer mode, depending on what game, it also has co-op.

I have no idea how anybody compared this to Vanquish. I caved and watched some gameplay last night after the detractors came out in full force and yeah... I'm gonna pass. AI looked terrible and the gameplay, incredibly bland.
 
I don't understand the people saying they prefer shorter games. Can't you play the same game for, I dunno, longer? If a game takes you 12 and costs 60, could you play it for 2 weeks instead of one? Or if you do prefer short games, wouldn't you be happier if a game that was 4-5 hours long cost, I dunno, 40 bucks instead of 60? Or is part of your experience contingent on spending the 60 bucks for it?

Well you know how there's long games, intermediate games and short games. Some people like long games, some people like intermediate games and some people like short games. Some people aren't very concerned about the length of a game and get value from it based on other values, such as how much they are entertained by it for example.
I can't explain it much more simply than that.

Personally speaking the length of a game isn't much of a factor in whether I enjoy a game or not. I'm 105 hours into DA:I but that's not why I'm enjoying it and I'm looking forward to trying The Order irrespective of much shitpiling people keep doing with regards to it length based on yheir their YouTube fuelled disapproval.

I personally don't really care what it costs.
I mean if Sony said 'all games are free' from now on I wouldn't be complaining, don't get me wrong.
And I think they should drop their highest RRP in the UK to £39.99 because I think £49.99 feels too expensive to most people because it might make it a bit easier for people on lower incomes etc to buy more games and take chances on stuff they wouldn't try otherwise. I also think it would increase their software sales rather than just hammering their current profits.
 
Here you go GAF, totally unbiased consumer. Really you hope a game does not sell well? Yes let's hope it affects the company that made it because you don't like it for irrational reasons.

His post may be vindictive, but in a certain way I agree with him. We've seen game value tumble down a hole the past 10 years, and having these super short and expensive games sell well only encourages more.
 

eso76

Member
I dont mind short-ish if i spend the entire time walking through unique locations.

Lenght and perceived value are not always strictly related for me.
 

Fury451

Banned
What is wrong with letting your potential customers know what they are getting themselves into? Pretty shady of them, especially after all the uproar.

Companies generally shy away from length discussion, unless it's "50 hours of gameplay". I remember other devs being asked this in the past (forget for what games though), and being pretty dodgy about it. One of the games was longer too, they just didn't want to reveal total playtime. Maybe it was for Max Payne 3 in that case?

Anyways, it's a common practice to shirk discussion of total playtime unless it's a selling point for a massive world.
 
This doesn't really seem worth the trouble to try and convince yourself it's worth the price, by drinking atmosphere, collecting everything, slowly panning the camera around and watching cloth move to stretch out a short game as much as possible, when you can just buy it for cheap a couple weeks later.
 

Instro

Member
So I have shit on this game plenty since it was revealed, and I still think it looks like shit, but people who complain about the length of a game and use it as a metric for their purchase are the worst.
 
Holy shit. LOL

This is some top tier level fanatic stuff.

Excuse me for being excited about a game and setting I'm into.

reads like you already played it to completion, don't make up your mind now or anything.

also cool how you can predict a minority will complete in five hours, but will "guarantee" eight hours, for your own.

5 hours is speed run territory my man. On a second playthrough or an easy difficulty yeah it could be done I'd guess.

A fan or an employee?

Take a guess.
 
Companies generally shy away from length discussion, unless it's "50 hours of gameplay". I remember other devs being asked this in the past (forget for what games though), and being pretty dodgy about it. One of the games was longer too, they just didn't want to reveal total playtime. Maybe it was for Max Payne 3 in that case?

Anyways, it's a common practice to shirk discussion of game length.

You're right but I still don't get why it's taboo. Movie studios always list running times for movies, even though people can walk out of a theater whenever they want if they've got something else to do. I know the games comparison to movies isn't a great one because games are played differently by everyone, but you know RAD has the numbers about average play through length. If it's something they're proud of then they should be more open.
 
Wolf is a fun linear game that gives players just enough freedom in the single player campaign. I think it's really strong. You can tell the priorities were on encounter design and satisfying shooting...the "30 seconds of fun" or whatever.

But it was needlessly padded by those awful 'search the house for tools' bits. Take those out, crack on with the shooting and Wolfenstein would've been perfect for me - to me that's what the Order sounds like it's doing; ditching the fetch quests and telling a story. never had the desire to replay Wolfenstein either,
 
Well you know how there's long games, intermediate games and short games. Some people like long games, some people like intermediate games and some people like short games. Some people aren't very concerned about the length of a game and get value from it based on other values, such as how much they are entertained by it for example.
I can't explain it much more simply than that.

Personally speaking the length of a game isn't much of a factor in whether I enjoy a game or not. I'm 105 hours into DA:I but that's not why I'm enjoying it and I'm looking forward to trying The Order irrespective of much shitpiling people keep doing with regards to it length based on yheir their YouTube fuelled disapproval.

I personally don't really care what it costs.
I mean if Sony said 'all games are free' from now on I wouldn't be complaining, don't get me wrong.
And I think they should drop their highest RRP in the UK to £39.99 because I think £49.99 feels too expensive to most people because it might make it a bit easier for people on lower incomes etc to buy more games and take chances on stuff they wouldn't try otherwise. I also think it would increase their software sales rather than just hammering their current profits.

Really? You don't care what it costs? 100 bucks? 200? Don't care at all?

Then dont fucking buy them.

I won't? Why're you angry? Did I offend you?
 

ironcreed

Banned
So I have shit on this game plenty since it was revealed, and I still think it looks like shit, but people who complain about the length of a game and use it as a metric for their purchase are the worst.

Some folks do not have unlimited income and prefer to be cautious with their money by buying something that will last them a bit longer. I can't fault them for that and even feel that way about certain games sometimes myself. But I do think I am going to enjoy this one for what it is.
 

Pastry

Banned
Jesus Jumped Up Christ.

People.

There is this little thing called, "SELL YOUR GAME WHEN YOU ARE DONE"

See, there are these magical places called Best Buy, Game and Gamestop and, (hold on to your butt) they will pay you REAL MONEY for your game when you are done playing it. So, for all of you folks who have had your hearts ripped out that the game is $60.00 whole dollars and is only going to be 5 and a half hours long, this is your salvation. Buy the game Friday night after work. Go home and beat it. Wake up Saturday morning and go sell it back for $40.00. This means you will only be out $20.00. I cannot think of anyone who would disagree that $20.00 is too expensive to be able to play the entire game of The Order:1886.

Also, there ARE people out here in the universe who believe $60.00 is not too expensive for a great SP 5.3728 hour campaign. It is all about one's priorities. My buddy goes out on Sunday and spends $60 on beer and pizza and watches a football game. Total time spent is about 4 hours. I know of people who spend $100.00 to go see Dave Matthews play a 2 hour set. Both of these people are ridiculous IMO but they probably would say the same for me buying The Order.

Opinions, priorities and desires. We are all different.

Christ.

I sell almost every game when I am done with it lol. I have $180 in credit at GameStop. Im going to enjoy The Order and then sell it back and still have $160 in credit, works for me. I have beaten around 10 games for the PS4 and the only game I have right now is BF4 because its my favorite Mp game. Oh and I have DA:I to return for credit right now also!
 

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
So people now may not be hyped or excited for a game with rich atmosphere and setting?

Hey, savour and drink all you want. When you write it out in the way they did, I can't help it if you sound like a silly fanboy/girl.
 
People getting mad in this thread. You are still going to get the game you look forward to. You don't need others to agree.

Yes...because people who want the game are the [only] problem...

Not sure why we have to keep stooping to the mudslinging.

'What a bunch of fanboys'
'It's only cuz of console wars'
'Apologists'
'Lazy devs better lose jobs'
'People who prefer x type of games are [insert insult]'

And on and on and on...
 

Moosehole

Member
Also, a bit more on topic, if the game actually is 5 hours long I think people deserve to know before hand. My gaming habits don't mesh well with paying $60 for 5-6 hours of game play. That is my preference.

That said, there is absolutely space in the industry for more cinematic, shorter experiences (if that's what The Order even is), and outrage over it is ridiculous. Just because you don't want something doesn't mean it shouldn't exist.
 

Oogedei

Member
Six hours packed with gameplay and story is fine by me. All games out there are having the same gameplay after the first hour or so anyway. I'd much rather play a short unique game than a long repetitive one.

But I understand why some people would be concerned over this as that's about 2 times shorter than an "industry standard" for such games.

I don't get why people always use this kind of false comparisons to justify their choice (and then act like anti "industry standard" activists). It's not like every longer game is automatically a repetitive boring game with no gameplay and a lame story. There are great long games out there as well as lame long games. But this applies for short games too.

When you guys say that the length of a game has nothing to do with its quality, then why do you constantly try to point out how awesome the quality of short games is? I enjoy both types of games. But 70 Euros are way too much for me for just 5 hours. I cancelled my preorder. I'd rather buy some nice short story based games now on steam and wait until I can grab The Order for 20 bucks.

Don't get me wrong. If you want to spend 70 bucks for this game, then go ahead. I'm totally fine with this. But don't act like every longer game is a shitty repetitive game and just because of that it is justifiable to buy short games for the same price.
 

Fury451

Banned
You're right but I still don't get why it's taboo. Movie studios always list running times for movies, even though people can walk out of a theater whenever they want if they've got something else to do. I know the games comparison to movies isn't a great one because games are played differently by everyone, but you know RAD has the numbers about average play through length. If it's something they're proud of then they should be more open.

I agree, I'd love that kind of transparency, but most people vote with length of time being coordinated with value. I understand that and do it myself at times, so I can see why if average it's about 6 hours why RAD wouldn't want that to be the focus. Remember Ground Zeroes being a $40 demo, even though you could milk different scenarios for like 8+ hours, the main mission could be fairly quickly finished. If they advertised it that way, no one would've bought it right away except for the dedicated MGS lovers.


I'll buy it regardless because it looks like an interesting new IP, but I'm sure many would skip or wait due to length.

But it is anyways. So they should probably just come out and say it.
 
Are you implying that if RAD made a long game that it'd be rife with filler? Doesn't that say something about them as devs?

I'm implying that Bioware is guilty of doing this with Dragon Age Inquisition. I would have no idea if this is the case with The Order as I have yet play it. However, if this were the cause with The Order, it would be a travesty of epic proportion.
 

Boke1879

Member
Also, a bit more on topic, if the game actually is 5 hours long I think people deserve to know before hand. My gaming habits don't mesh well with paying $60 for 5-6 hours of game play. That is my preference.

That said, there is absolutely space in the industry for more cinematic, shorter experiences (if that's what The Order even is), and outrage over it is ridiculous. Just because you don't want something doesn't mean it shouldn't exist.

What about the impressions that have put this game over the 8 hour mark?
 

ironcreed

Banned
The age of clickbait is upon us. I would really rather GS wait until they play their review copy and make their own mind.

Must have been a slow news day for sure. They indeed should have waited to reveal any and all information regarding the length of the game along with what is supposed to be a 'professional' review.
 
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