Why don't SP RPGs have timed events in them ?

Alrik Fassbauer

Alrik Fassbauer

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Hello,

I just wondered :

among the things exclusive to MMORPGs, there was crafting (available in a few SP RPGs), and timed Events.

I just wondered why offline SP RPGs don't have Events, too ?

I think it would be nice to have that - apart from the fact that it would probably boring at the point when everything got maxed out. Or when there is no-one to brag about the achievements.

I always wonder why some things are exclusive to MMORPGs ?

Alrik
 
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Timed events are used for monetization ("gotta get that limited fubar"), single-player games usually avoid that because we paid for the game up front, so we want everything available.
 
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Some RPGs still have timed quests but the vast majority don't simply because gamers don't like them. I have mixed feelings as they can make a game better or worse.
 
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Timed events are used to motivate people to log on regularly so they can participate and get whatever trinket you get as a reward for doing said event. Obviously doesn't apply to a single player game where you don't log on, and where money isn't continuously flowing to the developer.

Crafting has existed in single player games for eons. It's never been exclusive to multiplayer games.
 
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Guess no one played Fallout were the main quest had a timer, or Kingmaker, and the recent Assassin Creed games. It can be done in SP games but developers rarely use it.
 
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Couchpotato said:
Guess no one played Fallout were the main quest had a timer, or Kingmaker, and the recent Assassin Creed games. It can be done in SP games but developers rarely use it.
Click to expand...

That's not the same as how timed events in MMORPGs work, though. Those timed events happen on X day and last Y long. If you don't log in and fight the Babblezook on August 3rd, you don't get to fight the Babblezook. In a single player game, events can expire, but their expiration is tied to the narrative and the player's schedule. In other words, timed events in MMORPGs are based on real world time. In single player games they're based on in-game time.
 
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Fallout 1 had a timed quest with a generous window for completion but nobody liked it once they learned about it. Personally i don't want a timer hanging over me as I take my time in games.
If a game had Day/Night Cycle it would be a good use of the concept.
 
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JFarrell71 said:
That's not the same as how timed events in MMORPGs work, though. Those timed events happen on X day and last Y long. If you don't log in and fight the Babblezook on August 3rd, you don't get to fight the Babblezook. In a single player game, events can expire, but their expiration is tied to the narrative and the player's schedule. In other words, timed events in MMORPGs are based on real world time. In single player games they're based on in-game time.
Click to expand...

I’m pretty sure AC:O quest are in real time. I say pretty sure because I cant 100% remember but i think they’d say 24H and expire the next day.
 
sakichop said:
I’m pretty sure AC:O quest are in real time. I say pretty sure because I cant 100% remember but i think they’d say 24H and expire the next day.
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Once you start them. But you could start them anytime. They're also randomly generated and don't give unique, never to be replicated rewards, so it doesn't matter if you do them at any particular time. All time is our time. What I mean by real time vs game time is that the real world (devs) dictate their start and end time versus that being dictated in game (by the player triggering/starting them)
 
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Some have had, mass effect 1 & 2 both had timed sections for example.
However, as I have hand problems timed events are an anathema, so I'm glad they haven't propogated
 
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The MMORPG events I mean come again for let's say 3 times in a year - every year.
I could imagine market events happening like that, or a carnival/circus.
 
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Sorry then that basically makes my answer no SP game do. Though some games get Holiday DLC. The latest game that did that was ATOM RPG for Halloween and X-Mas.
 
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Yes, holiday events/quests like that to occasionally exist even in single player games (though I'm pretty sure they are often 'integrated', as in made available anytime, after a while, or even immediately).
 
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The issue with timed events is that you'll end up creating things that most people won't end up seeing, unless they play the game at a specific time, so they're not really adding much to the experience, they're not even adding the feeling of having options. It's just that if you happen to log in between certain dates, you'll get to do certain things.

That said, there are a few games that do this to some extent. The SNES JRPG Far East of Eden Zero famously had such a function, with the real world date correlating with certain in-game things. There's also games like Tyrian (not an RPG) which has a Christmas skin, and a few other games makes nods to specific times of the year, but adding entire holiday themed events results in more work for little payoff. Unless you can monetize it in some way....
 
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Timed events = bs used usually as scam or manipulation of people that should never exist in any product that dares to call itself a videogame.

An example?
I don't want to see a reward for logging in my game every day.
I don't want to play a game every day.
I want to uninstall a game when I've had enough of it.
I refuse to appear at a job I won't get paid for.
 
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joxer said:
Timed events = bs used usually as scam or manipulation of people that should never exist in any product that dares to call itself a human life.

An example?
I don't want to see a reward for Easter.
I don't want to see a reward for Christmas.
I don't want to see a reward for Helloween.
Click to expand...

Fixed that for you. ;)
 
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TBH there is nothing wrong in that fix.
 
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Nethack gives you +1 luck when playing with a full moon in real life. -1 luck for a new moon.

Sword of the Stars (?) did a little nod to Christmas and Spaceward Ho by putting stocking caps on all the planets near Christmas.

But yeah, it isn't like what MMORPGs do so often. City of Heroes would have us trick or treating right now - knocking on random city doors to get rewards or nasty monster attacks.
 
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I hate SP timed events. I play games to relax & enjoy at my own pace, not feel like I'm working to a deadline.
 
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I don't mind a few now and again. As long as they're just sidequests, they can add some variety. I don't like timed battles though.
 
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