When there's too much replayability

Right now I'm still penning ideas for a game I'm looking to make. Possibly unlockables and modes. So I couldn't help but feel curious as to whether there is such a thing as a little "too much replayability," and if so, how would you look at it from a (commercial) developer and player's perspective? Is it something that should be encouraged, or something that should be avoided? Would too much replayability (the definition of too much is up to you) be far too overwhelming for the player or would they find enjoyment in it?

Just thought I'd get the ball rolling.

Isn't the idea of replayability that players may choose or not choose to do it (err, again)? Personally, I'd keep playing if additional replays reward me by enriching the overall experience.

You could put up a reward for going through the game ten times, for example. But who'd do that, then, if the reward is not worth it?

You'd probably have to find a balance between rewards and time/effort spent getting it. Make it so the player knows that there is an end to all of it, and what he has to do to get there, or drop various hints here and there. But make sure it doesn't eventually turn a hassle to unlock everything.

There is no definite answer. Some players love replayability, some aren't too hot about it.

From a commercial developer's point of view, replayability is time-consuming (especially a lot of) and may not be worth it. Go for it only if that's your thing! Remember the bottom line: a game gets developed faster if you like it, so what you lose there, you gain here. :)

Little Big Planet is a game that, in my opinion, has replay-ability perfected. Yes the game can be beaten in one go through, but going back, acing the levels, beating the multi-player parts and collecting all the prize bubbles is fun, because it's rewarding. Obviously an adventure/platformer is a lot easier to do that in than an rpg, but the premise is still the same. If the rewards are there, the more replay-ability, the better.

Well, one thing's for sure, you won't get as bored of your own game if it has high replayability. Plus, I tend to have a bias against games that are basically an interactive story, that pretends to have emergent mechanics. Games like Minecraft and Dwarf Fortress succeeded, because they have very, very long replayability. So do multiplayer games. In fact, you could say that the most popular games of today are those that have very high replayability: StarCraft II, Team Fortress 2, COD (I know some of you hate this game, but it's still replayable), and on to roguelikes such as ADOM, NetHack, Crawl, etc. Even roguelike-likes such as Spelunky and Binding of Isaac have real replayability.

In my opinion, the more replayability the better.

I guess it depends on the game type. There are a lot of games that are procedurally generated now so offer seemingly infinite replayability. Games like Spelunky or Binding of Isaac. As long as the gameplay is engaging and has a lot of variables I don't think you can have "too much replayability". As a commercial developer I know that would make a great Unique Selling Point.

Replay-ability is determined by the users wish to play the game again after they have finished it.

I think the best way would be to give the player choices which determines the outcome of certain situations. Like, "If player uses option A, player gains party member A, if player uses option B, player can't get party member A, but instead gains access to area C." Or something.

Having content that is only unlockable after one playthrough seems rather tiresome to me though.

In my opinion, as well long everything else well executed, there is no such thing as too much re-playability. I think that, if you're going for re-playability, just make it as re-playable as you can, of course factoring in resources, time constraints etc.

I love multiple Arcs. I have no problem playing through 3, 4, 5+ arcs in the same game, if they are well written and make sense.

I don't like games where you beat it, and then start at the beginning at whatever level you beat the game at... unless it has multiple arcs.

It depends on the reason someone would want to replay the game.

Is it to pursue a different class? Story branches or extra endings?

For the latter I've never replayed a game unless it's been a while and the game's fun factor made replaying worth the task.

I agree with Levi; so long as things are well executed you should have the completionists knocking on your door. Just keep in mind that not everyone wants to replay an experience they've gone through even if it stuck with them.

I like when games have a lot of replayability, as long as a few things change here and there, for example, Starcraft 2, you can pick different missions and side with different people, choose different units and stuff to unlock, then theres Resident Evil 4, where you complete it and get extra suits and weapons. But then there's games like Oblivion and Skyrim, Fallout and stuff. I'm not sure why but I never really liked those games, I sort of...get lost too easily in how much things are available to do 3:

Does anyone else instinctively create another save file when they reach a decision moment in the game? lol

I think when the the game is fun, and is replayable, then I would think it was worth paying for the game.

Throw in small things like achievements, music room, and all those things that require multiple play throughs (if you're a collector) that loads data from your save headers.

Otherwise it's like, why did I buy it? Your rep goes down, etc.

All the time lol

I do it all the time ~

Although replayability is good, some get extremely turned off if they have to finish a game 3-5x (or even more <_________<) before getting the real ending of the game. This is my main problem because it's super frustrating. That's just too much IMHO.

Although to be honest, there are times that I DO want to replay a game and remember that one frustrating dungeon (I'm looking at you Alter A.I.L.A Genesis and Strange Journey) and that causes me to lose all intent to replay the game. I think people should also take that into consideration :x

Replayability is great, after all, it's up to the player to decide whether or not they want to replay it.