Were the "Last Time Played" and "Total Play Time" good ideas?

[Ikagura Ikagura]

When consoles entered the then-next generation with the PlayStation Xbox 360 and how PC games have an UI (such as Steam) they started to add those to tell players how long they've played and when was their latest session.

I think as informative it was I think that it's also detrimental to the player (especially when idling time and missclicking are counting). I also think that writing down the play time by themselves is better than being told. Some people are also flexing their playtime to appear more legitimate...


I could talk about achievements as well but it's a different subject.

 

[Clippy]

Total play time has been a thing in JRPGs since forever and I can't recall anyone complaining about the feature. Now it's simply become more universal. I don't particularly care one way or the other.

 

[SnicketySlice]

I like them because it tells me how deep into a game I am, but it does subtly change how I play them. I'm less inclined to loiter about in-game if the timer is going to call me a slow poke at the end.

 

[PhrawzT]

I don't care for total play time, because I am one of those people to leave a game running while I make lunch and often times the timer doesn't pause when you pause the game.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Total play time has been a thing in JRPGs since forever and I can't recall anyone complaining about the feature. Now it's simply become more universal. I don't particularly care one way or the other.

JRPGs sometimes only count game time except when you're in menus.

Some games are even using two separate timers (even non RPGs) but it's less common.

I don't care for total play time, because I am one of those people to leave a game running while I make lunch and often times the timer doesn't pause when you pause the game.

I got used to systematically turn off the game when not using it.

Then again I also do it for older consoles and emulators.

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

I'll be honest; it's not something I particularly think too deeply about. It would be like back in the day when I'd play Monster Hunter religiously and it shows total playtime on your file select. I'd just think "Oh, I've played this long, cool" and that was it. I feel like any other meaning someone wants to self-prescribe to things like this are extremely arbitrary in all honesty.

 

[RustySK]

I never really understood the point of total playtime stats. Unless you're speedrunning, what does your playtime even matter to you or anyone?
If anything, I usually get a bit embarassed when I look at those stats and see numbers in the hundreds.

Last played meanwhile... I mean it's a way to sort your library, I suppose? Useless to me, but I guess it might be helpful to some people.

 

[Pearly]

I don't care for total play time, because I am one of those people to leave a game running while I make lunch and often times the timer doesn't pause when you pause the game.

This is pretty much how it is for me as well. I am an enjoy the journey type, though I have been surprised by total play time on a handful of games as of when I got a ps5 as it did not really feel like I played it THAT much, but apparently I did, the timer displayed for some ps4 games like Nioh was a few hundred hours.

I never really understood the point of total playtime stats. Unless you're speedrunning, what does your playtime even matter to you or anyone?
If anything, I usually get a bit embarassed when I look at those stats and see numbers in the hundreds.

Last played meanwhile... I mean it's a way to sort your library, I suppose? Useless to me, but I guess it might be helpful to some people.

It's not the kinda flex some want to think it is, it is a flex but is it one to air out to the public? Me thinks not.

 

[Danieru-Emanyueru]

The ideas of Last Time Played and Total Play Time I think are good because they provide users with a way to track their engagement with a game that show personal history and help with the game management but they can be polarizing. Some users appreciate the data, while others may find it irrelevant or even discouraging this is depending on their gaming habits.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

All I really know is that my last activity on Steam was recorded as having played less than an hour back in 2014... And I'm fine with it XD

But yeah, some people can really obsess over that and make rather unhinged decisions to match, beat or double their times, which isn't really the developers' fault.

HOWEVER, I think this info shouldn't be visible to just about anyone -- I don't like how certain platforms show other users just how deeply into any given game players are. That, I consider invasive.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

HOWEVER, I think this info shouldn't be visible to just about anyone -- I don't like how certain platforms show other users just how deeply into any given game players are. That, I consider invasive.

You can hide your Steam library from non friends but I agree about it.

 

[pissstain]

yeah i love seeing how much of my life i waste in a vidya makes me feel like im doing something lol but tbh who gives a shit that much like why would writing the time down be any different than steam telling you lol

 

[Sir Auriel of Lionel]

I don't like the fact they can't keep an internal offline clock on Steam of what you play and how long when you return back to online. I play quite a lot of different games offline and on the go and when I come home it's a simple Bejeweled clone that I can't post the name of here. Ruins my gamer cred but profile is private so I shouldn't feel too bad but I do. If it weren't for that I wouldn't have a problem with time collected.