Avalance Studios developed GZ in a such way where:
- You can’t get all skills unlocked on single char (max what you can get is 30x skill points but there are 48x skills and if you want to max out all skills, you’d need 84x skill points)
- To give people chance to try out all skills, devs made multiple char system. You can create up to 4x chars, to test out different skill builds (4 x 30 = 120 skill points across all chars).
This system isn’t as fast as it is in some other game. Mainly because leveling up takes time.
Fastest way to level up is to do missions (min 1000 XP per mission or when you have Inquisitive Mind lvl2 skill, min 2000 XP per mission), 2nd fastest is destroying relay beacons (mostly 1000 XP per beacon but some give 1500 XP), leaving combat as the 3rd and slowest way to level up your char.
This is how devs have visioned for players to play their game and so it is.
Also, game mechanics doesn’t have to be smooth and fluid since people are versatile creatures and can adapt to different mechanics. It’s the choice of one if to adapt or not. It is even so in the real world where the world doesn’t change because you want it to. If you want to survive, you have to change and adapt for the world.
Yes, it would be nice if you can experience every game in a timely manner but there are very extensive games out there that take a TON of time and people have played them for years. Skyrim, Eve Online, World of Warcraft are just the few such games. Sure, GZ isn’t as extensive as those MMOs but the world in GZ is still big and it takes lot of time to see everything it has to offer.
For example, it took me 117 gameplay hours in my own pace to finish the vanilla main missions but that’s just one part of the game. World exploration, side missions, collectables, best gear, leveling up, different skill builds - all that takes time as well. Even now i’m not exactly there where i’d want to be, still missing 5* KVMs and from time to time, i come to a place in world that i haven’t visited yet, despite the fact that i’ve played since launch.
Open world games are time hoggers, some more than others and there is little to be done to cut down gameplay time in them. Cut up the open world game and you’re left is either sandbox game (e.g Borderlands 3) or linear game without freedom to move around much (e.g Crysis).
One of the more extensive open world game is GTA V. I haven’t played it but if you have, can you tell me how much time, on average, it takes to complete it 100% and also visiting every place on the map? My guess would be far more than 200 gameplay hours since there’s a lot more in it than there’s in GZ.
Btw, you’re not the only one who was disappointed with Hacker specialization. I too picked it on my 1st char since it sounded good but in reality it wasn’t quite what i expected. Still, Hacker specialization did save my life on several instances. On one instance i used it to turn attacking hunters against each other until one remained with very little HP.
As far as time spent being worthwhile goes, that is individual. If you are used to with short gameplay games then yes, playing long gameplay games can feel a waste of time. In the other hand, if you are used to with long gameplay games, short gameplay games feel too short, leaving you disappointed of game ending that early.
Small comparison: like i said above, it took me 117 gameplay hours to finish vanilla main missions in GZ. In Borderlands 3, it takes 35 gameplay hours to finish the main story (latter source is wikipedia).
Yes, it is you i’m talking about and you referred me as a male (he) in your previous post to this one. Here it is to refreshen your memory with highlights to see better:
![:roll_eyes: :roll_eyes:](https://forum.generationzero.com/images/emoji/apple/roll_eyes.png?v=9)