Timers in games.

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It's more than just a general dislike of them for me. I truly, truly, detest them. I feel rushed and pressured a lot in real life, so when I play to relax and escape, I do not wish to be rushed with the presence of a timer. It ruins the experience for me, I find it pointless, and I resent it. Core reasons, on a deeper level of my hatred towards such things points to executive functioning problems, perhaps.

Somewhat off track thoughts that may or may not relate,

I take my own sweet time in games. In GTA: San Andreas, for example, you'd find me happily strolling along in the countryside in a golf cart (love all those different types of vehicles ), taking in all the scenery. I tend to focus on all the side stuff rather than the actual main missions. I'll stop at red traffic lights sometimes, and have strong urges to jump on the back of other vehicles so they can drive me around, haha!

Anyway,

Anyone else here not like timers/countdowns in games?

I maintain that every developer that puts a timed mission in a game, deserves a kick in the balls every time someone fails that timed mission. You make the timing of it too hard? Well, I hope you weren't needing your testicles.

Oh yeah, I hate time limits in video games. Seriously, Dead Rising would had been so much more enjoyable if it wasn't for that stupid time limit.

I have nothing to add, just would like to say I agree with the original post's point. Assassin's Creed's races come to mind on that. What bugs me more is when they force you to use stealth.

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Last edited by Colinn on 15 Oct 2012, 6:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I agree, I don't see the need for a timer to be implemented into a game. The idea of a game is to chill out and have fun, not rushing through it with a time limit over your head. It spoils the fun and it doesn't give you the time to truly appreciate the quality of the game. If I hear a game has it I will avoid it as it just increases my anxiety and I get pretty anxious as it is in my own life.



Dead Rising: Off the Record doesn't have a timer. Its essentially Dead Rising 2 changed around but with some changes and upgrades, no timer included. Its around the same price right now as Dead Rising 2 as well, so it might be worth checking out if you like the series.

Simpson's Hit & Run is a perfect example of hating timers in games. I'm given a mission to collect collect a certain amount items within a time limit or destroy a certain number of objects within a time limit. They almost don't give me enough time. There's too much traffic, too many pedestrians, I keep getting hit & runs (cops come after me), My car isn't fast enough no matter what car I use and the steering mechanics suck (in Road Rage, it was simpler). There should've been a cheat to give me at least 30 more seconds to complete the mission. I'm still stuck on the fish collecting mission on Lisa's level. Sure I can skip missions but I don't want to. I want to complete everything but I just can't because they don't give enough time.

i have very mixed feelings on timers,

sometimes a timer makes inherent sense, when running from that explosion i triggered in the reaction core there better well be a consequence for dawdling around.
it doesnt need to be on screen and it does need to be doable, tht said im fine if a single mistake or two means a retry, it is meant to be a high intensity moment.

that said any form of global timer is a big no no, dead rising was ruined because of it, for me it ended up a time keeping game.
regular uses of unneccesary timers is also a nono, then it becomes frustrating.

worst of all is the idiots that failed to understand that increasing difficulty does not necceasrily mean your movement speed increases, so when that timer is encountered you will have 7 seconds to do a 30 second drive or run or whatever.

I have hated time limits ever since I started playing games. Sure it's not a big deal in most older games like SMB, but it games where you have races or timed missions, it's a whole new ballgame. They can easily turn awesome games like GTA and Red Dead Redemption into the bane of my existance.

About the only thing I hate as much as this is rescuing an ally character who is a helpless idiot. You have to keep watching out for them and making sure they're not getting shot to pieces or that they're even following you.

Hate them. I don't perform well under time limits. That is a problem that goes back all the way to elementary school and those goddamned mad minute math speed tests. I actually do worse and act more slowly when I know there is a time constraint because all I can think about is the seconds ticking by and pressure to act quickly.

As a recent example, the new Walking Dead downloadable games are unplayable for me because of the time limit on certain dialogue choices. I barely get a chance to read the options before the game says TIMES UP.

All the games I never ended had timers. I get a bad mood playing with a timer.

I don't mind "local timers". For example, if there is some challenge I have to do in two minutes, and if I fail I can just try again, that's fine with me.

What I really don't like is "global timers". For example, in Pikmin you have to complete the game in a certain number of in-game days, or else you fail.

This is the main reason why I love Pikmin 2 but dislike Pikmin. In Pikmin 2, you use as many in-game days as you like to complete the game.

I think you really need to have a different mindset when playing a game like The Walking Dead. The whole point of that game is to force you to make gut decisions under pressure.

By putting the decisions on a timer, the game does something that I don't think any other game has ever done before: it can actually make you surprise yourself with your decisions. For example, you might go into the game with a preconceived idea that you will not kill anyone except in self-defense. But when push comes to shove, and you're caught up in the moment, and you're absolutely furious with a character, maybe you really will kill them. That's why the game feels so "real".

Could it be an Asperger thing? Most people here hate timers (me included).

On topic, games are split into time based and turn based. The game would either go, with or without you, and a timer would be required to warn you that you are falling behind, or wait for you to take your sweet time so that nothing happens until you do something.

It is true that game makers aren’t using time the right way; ending up forcing and restraining the player to follow a pre-designed optimum path or fail. Some games make it even worse than others but you have to admit that you just can’t go have coffee in the next town when you have a pending and urgent mission to do (like how the bad guys always wait for you to go and get that weapon that can defeat them, finish few side quests, farm for exp and super equips and go to their secret base before they start executing their plan).

The final statement, timers are an outdated relic of older times when technology and hardware limitation forced the game makers to use this as player driving factor. Time should be used in a different manner now; the player should be given a sense of urgency through means other than a timer above his head, we have the technology for it.

Another vote for hating timers! There's one mission in Hegemonia I can just never pass because you only have an "hour" which is not enough to get past the huge defenses of the late-stage level.

Thanks eelektrik, BlueElephantKing, SanityTheorist, Colinn, Aspiegaming, Oodain, crmoore, VIDEODROME, MrStewart, BanjoGirl, Declension, Ash_Darkside, and BlueMax (and anyone else who posts before I submit this!) for each of your responses.

With the amount of times I fail timed stuff, the developers will never get out of hospital.



Very much agree.



Simpson's Hit & Run was a good game, I loved exploring the colourful neighbourhood and collecting stuff. I don't think I got very far into the missions though, due to the same frustrations as you. I understand your annoyance with the traffic, pedestrians and the cops as well.



That's interesting. In The Saboteur, when you go about planting explosives, there is a kind of timer involved, but its presence is mostly hidden and not in your face. I didn't mind this so much. Perhaps I didn't mind so much because I initiated the action (planting explosive) myself? Instead of it being forced on me, physically being able to see the timer, and having very little or no control over it. Hmm. Hard to put into words, hope this made some sense.



I dislike this very much also. I'm too busy protecting my own backside from getting shot off to be worrying about the other character that is with me, which like you say, is most probably not following you and getting themselves stuck in a wall somewhere.



This is it exactly. I'm too conscious of the timer, watching the seconds ticking by, it well and truly disorients me.

The same happens to me with the quickly decreasing bar below the dialogue choices in Walking Dead. Too aware of the bar going down that a good majority of the time I was unable to take in the words, process and make sense of them in my head, and pick and option before the bar ran out. Rabbit in the headlights.



I know you were addressing MrStewart here, so I hope you don't mind me responding to this bit as well?

While what you're saying makes perfectly good sense, and I really do understand why Walking Dead was set up in this way, they are getting an incorrect gut reaction choice response from me. The thinking process is constantly being interrupted by the awarness of the bar, so much so that a good percent of the time during the game I was unable to register and make sense of the words. Sometimes I was able to pick and understand a choice, other times not. Really hard to describe this.

On closer inspection, perhaps my real gut response is to just stand there and die... Despite this though, I am enjoying Walking Dead and the story. The latest one where it showed the little boy and his pet dog side-by-side in the grave together was rather sad.



That would be nice, I'd be far less disorientated. Maybe a compromise somewhere, where the ones who actually feed off timers and the thrill off the rush feels good to them could still get their needs met as well. Not sure how this could be implemented, but a choice is good.

Thanks again for each of your responses, I've acknowledged all of them and appreciate the understanding and different perspectives. Also an apology for the extremely long quote fest from me, and any bad grammar and spelling errors!