What is the most time in physical hours you've devoted to a video game?

[Huntn]

I'm wondering if I should admit this, or you all will think there is something even more wrong with me. ? Just post some outrageously bigger number, and then no one will believe it anyway. ?


According to Steam:
ARK: Survival Vvolved: 1919 hrs or 79 Days.
Fallout 4: 1396 hours or 58 days.

 

[UltimateSyn]

It was definitely in the MMORPG MapleStory, which I played a *ton* when I was younger. Unfortunately I don't have the stats to quantify the time, but it was several hours per day for years. A lot of time.

 

[maflynn]

For me,
Steam has the following
Fallout 76 1,572 hours
Fallout 4 826 hours. I would venture that I probably put at least double if not triple of that time for fallout 4 on the PS4. There was a time where I would spend days and days on the PS4 playing only this.

I've since transitioned over to Xbox which doesn't show my metrics AFAIK

I may restart fallout 4 again, but I'm heavily invested in Fallout 76, I still enjoy playing it. I tend to start it up once I get back from the gym in the morning and play about an hour, and then at lunch hour maybe a 1/2 hour and sometimes at night for another hour. The night time is more likely if there's a new DLC or events that I really like, right now we're in between major updates so its relatively quiet.

 

[ackmondual]

Probably StarCraft 2's coop mode. I jump on every day/night for 1 to 5 games, for the past year or so.

ADDITION: I have to bring up Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I'll be hitting 300 hours soon enough.

 

[garnerx]

ARK: Survival Vvolved: 1919 hrs or 79 Days.
Fallout 4: 1396 hours or 58 days.

I would say I'm a fairly committed gamer - I build PCs, I have many consoles, I spent over a decade working on games magazines - but I'm sure I have never approached those stats. Of the 150-odd games in my Steam library, my most played is Metal Gear Solid V with 98.9 hours.

Next best/worst is Arma 3 (72 hours), then Civ 5 (51 hours), then Just Cause 3 (43 hours).
Edit: I missed Fallout 4! I played 82 hours of that on Steam, and it had grossly outstayed its welcome at least 20 hours before the actual end.

I've since transitioned over to Xbox which doesn't show my metrics AFAIK

Most games from Xbox One onwards keep your stats, unless the developer opted out (stats are shown in your achievement list / profile).

My profile shows MS Flight Simulator at 325 hours, although only about 130 hours spent flying (lots of time on the menu screens?) and Hitman 2 at 212 hours. If I add together Hitman 1,2 and 3 I get to 418 hours, but, you know, that's three massive games.

I have over 100K achievement points though, how about that?

 

[Flint Ironstag]

I don't even want to login to WoW and type /played.

 

[Huntn]

I don't even want to login to WoW and type /played.

I played WoW for a couple of years. No idea how many hours. It just a bit sobering thinking of myself spending literally two and a half months of my life playing just one game.

 

[JMacHack]

If I remember correctly I have 2500-3000 hours in TF2, never idling. Next runner up is probably CIV5, 1200.

 

[TheRedOx]

I’m equal parts embarrassed and proud to admit that I have 1673 hours driving a virtual truck. 849 on ETS2 and 824 on ATS.

 

[Danfango]

And now for the depressing conclusion of my life as a young adult PC gamer. I was stuck in a boring job for 3 years, drove home every day and played UT99 on Facing Worlds for 6 hours solid. Then 12 hours a day at the weekends. So that's 8000+ hours.

One day I just woke up and never played it again and I haven't played a game since.

 

[ackmondual]

I don't even want to login to WoW and type /played.

/PAID

FoxTrot by Bill Amend | November 15, 2009

foxtrot.com

 

[Nermal]

I don't even want to login to WoW and type /played.

Mine's 85 days in Classic. I dare not log into the other version and see how bad it is there!

 

[Huntn]

And now for the depressing conclusion of my life as a young adult PC gamer. I was stuck in a boring job for 3 years, drove home every day and played UT99 on Facing Worlds for 6 hours solid. Then 12 hours a day at the weekends. So that's 8000+ hours.

One day I just woke up and never played it again and I haven't played a game since.

Just remember that video games count as leisure activity and human beings spend a lot of their time engaged in such activities. Ask how much time people spend watching TV in the evenings or reading books or interacting on social media, or in online forums. It adds up.

 

[Danfango]

Just remember that video games count as leisure activity and human beings spend a lot of their time engaged in such activities. Ask how much time people spend watching TV in the evenings or reading books or interacting on social media, or in online forums. It adds up.

That’s a fair point.

The real side effect was the decline in physical and mental health really though. Felt like I was just aborted from the matrix for about a month after stopping.

I lean towards physical and mental enrichment these days.

 

[JMacHack]

Just remember that video games count as leisure activity and human beings spend a lot of their time engaged in such activities. Ask how much time people spend watching TV in the evenings or reading books or interacting on social media, or in online forums. It adds up.

This is true from a logical standpoint, but my gut says that social media and video games are different.

Hear me out; as social media has grown in society it’s led to a boom in mental health issues, bullying, and misinformation. Gaming seems to be focusing more on wringing every last penny from their customers using unethical (to say the least) means. Usually trying to trigger addictive feedback, to say nothing of the toxicity present in multiplayer games.

On a personal note, I know that I feel much better mentally after dropping gaming and social media. And I can say the same for my friend group, who also have improved their lives because they play games less and stay off social media.

I haven’t really noticed these side effects with either reading, television/movies, or other hobbies.

 

[MBAir2010]

Almost pacmaned the round bastage to the second stage in 1983!
which was under 15 minutes.

 

[garnerx]

Almost pacmaned the round bastage to the second stage in 1983!
which was under 15 minutes.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

That’s a fair point.

The real side effect was the decline in physical and mental health really though. Felt like I was just aborted from the matrix for about a month after stopping.

I lean towards physical and mental enrichment these days.

Good for you. A soul-sucking job can easily drive one to unproductive behavior.

 

[LeeW]

On my druid in WoW I have 152 days played. Although it makes me feel somewhat better knowing my character was created on 28th Dec 2006. Don't play that much anymore but still keep my hand in. Don't really play much of anything else.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

About 1000h in Civilization 4. 700 hours of Civilization 6. Likely something in between for Civilization 1, and somewhat less for Civilization 2 and 3. Exactly 2,9 hours for Civilization 5. 8)

 

[dukebound85]

I'm wondering if I should admit this, or you all will think there is something even more wrong with me. ? Just post some outrageously bigger number, and then no one will believe it anyway. ?


According to Steam:
ARK: Survival Vvolved: 1919 hrs or 79 Days.
Fallout 4: 1396 hours or 58 days.

considering a full time job is 2080 hrs in a year.......... jeebus

 

[JouniS]

Gaming seems to be focusing more on wringing every last penny from their customers using unethical (to say the least) means. Usually trying to trigger addictive feedback, to say nothing of the toxicity present in multiplayer games.

TV is almost certainly worse than video games, because it's so passive. Especially if you are just watching TV instead of watching a specific show.

Multiplayer games not inherently good or bad. If you are playing with your friends, it doesn't really matter whether you are playing a board game or a video game. If you play with random strangers, you may encounter all kinds of people, and hanging out with those people may not be a good idea.

As for microtransactions, addictive feedback, and things like that, they are quite rare. I've never tried a game or wanted to play one where I would have to pay something in addition to the initial purchase price or a (low) monthly fee. And Civilization is the only game series I've played that is deliberately trying to be addictive.

 

[Danfango]

Very true. After reflecting on this overnight, I came to an interesting conclusion. I played high speed FPS games mostly (UT99, occasionally Q3A and Tribes 2) and it did help my physical coordination and ability to make decisions quickly. You don’t get that from passive consumption.

 

[garnerx]

Very true. After reflecting on this overnight, I came to an interesting conclusion. I played high speed FPS games mostly (UT99, occasionally Q3A and Tribes 2) and it did help my physical coordination and ability to make decisions quickly. You don’t get that from passive consumption.

There have been a lot of academic studies on the benefit of Tetris. An interesting recent one suggests that playing for a short time can combat cravings for drugs, and there was one a few years earlier that showed that playing for a longer time induces structural changes in the brain that make visual-spatial processing more efficient. Also, playing Tetris was shown to reduce the occurrence of intrusive memories, i.e. PTSD.

I don't think that playing 4,000 hours of WoW has ever been shown to have a positive effect though.

 

[JMacHack]

TV is almost certainly worse than video games, because it's so passive. Especially if you are just watching TV instead of watching a specific show.

I guess if you count passive entertainment as worse, but unless you’re playing a fitness game I’m not sure that it’s inherently more “active”.

Multiplayer games not inherently good or bad. If you are playing with your friends, it doesn't really matter whether you are playing a board game or a video game. If you play with random strangers, you may encounter all kinds of people, and hanging out with those people may not be a good idea.

Actually I have a theory about that. As said itt, I was big into TF2, and I had a lot of regulars to the servers I frequented as friends (to this day!) and I recall TF2 of the time having one of the best communities of online gaming.

Then quickplay and eventually “matchmaking” (which doesn’t do any matchmaking), was introduced and the game became more of a toxic cesspit.

I’m convinced that multiplayer games with “matchmaking systems” breed toxicity.

As for microtransactions, addictive feedback, and things like that, they are quite rare. I've never tried a game or wanted to play one where I would have to pay something in addition to the initial purchase price or a (low) monthly fee. And Civilization is the only game series I've played that is deliberately trying to be addictive.

Yeah but that sounds like you’re actively making good decisions with your purchases rather than looking at industry trends as a whole.