That’s generally how I follow it also. Though I add the stipulation that they’re enjoyable hours, and it’s not hardline. I know not every game can be measured that way. If it’s a particular genre or series, l might take the dive anyway. For indies, it goes even further than that. Some I track for years before release, so I pre-order as soon as it becomes available, just to support as much as I can. So $/hr is a good baseline, but it’s deeper than that.
FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 1 day ago
My rule is I’m only willing to pay a dollar for every expected hour of play, so you can imagine I buy few things at full price.
The last two games I paid full price for were Elden Ring and Mandragora. I am far more likely to pay full price for an indie title that I’m excited about than anything else, because as an artist myself, I fully understand the impact of a pre-purchase on an indie studio.
uberfreeza@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
It all depends on what you’re looking for. I’ve put hundreds of hours into games and gotten way less than $1/hr, and I’ve also had a great experience paying significantly more.
So I don’t see games in terms of $/hr, especially these days when I’m more limited by time than money. Instead, I look for unique experiences with cost being a much lower factor. Generally speaking, I spend much less than $1/hr since I buy a lot of older games, but I’ve spent far more ($5-10/hr) on particularly interesting games.
But yeah, generally speaking, I’m willing to pay more for indies than AAA titles because indie games are more likely to offer that unique experience.
Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
I like some of the early access development styles used in things like Enshrouded and Satisfactory, so mostly ive been spending on games like that. I like the idea of collaborating with a player base to create a game together I think.
FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Oh definitely. I’ve enjoyed the experience of helping devs mold a title into something better in exchange for a lower price.
Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
I like your dollar an hour rule though, I might use that in the future. Its funny though, my most played game was free and I have 2000+ hours in it!
FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Yeah, the games I’ve spent very little on I’ve put a ton of time into, like Vampire Survivors, Noita, and Dungeon Defenders.
2FortGaming@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I’m totally ok paying $30 for a ten hr game, I appreciate shorter games. But if it’s boring or unfun for a whole hour in, I’m getting a refund.
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 1 day ago
I would also generally consider £1/hour of gameplay to be pretty terrible value tbh. Truly good games are more like £0.10/hour or less
Jambalaya@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
If you only look at $/hr, there are some 70 hr games which milk your time and should have been shorter, like Assassin’s Creed, and then there are short, story rich games, like Outer Wilds, which are absolutely worth it even at more than a dollar an hour.
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 1 day ago
Prefer games like Factorio or Rimworld that you can get many 100s of hours from.
FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 1 day ago
That’s fine. I don’t.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
People spend like $20 to watch a 2 hour movie, $1/hr isn’t that unreasonable
Agent_Karyo@piefed.world 1 day ago
Not to mention that not all gaming hours are equally fungible.
There can be shorter narrative games where a given hour is worth more (to me), so the higher per hour cost is justified.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
Agree 100%. Played Dispatch last week and had a blast. Very short, but worth the money imo
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 1 day ago
To you perhaps. Cinema is less than half that cost here and even then I go less than once a year because I don’t really feel like most films that come out are worth bothering to see given the combined effort and cost.
Lfrith@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
2 hour movies are also competing with streaming services like Netflix where people can see as many hours of TV shows and movies as they want. Some just stick to youtube which requires no money and has some free movies there too.
Its like how people can drop hundreds and thousands of hours on f2p games without spending any money. $/hr valuation is outdated.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 hours ago
I don’t strictly adhere to it or anything, but I think it’s a good reminder sometimes when I balk at the price of a new game that I’m liable to spend hundreds of hours playing.