I used to be concerned about a game being too short. Now I worry that it will be too long.
Title mostly describes how I'm feeling now.
When I was younger, my main worry when deciding what game to buy and play next was that the game wouldn't be able to keep me entertained until I can buy another game.
Now I have a backlog of almost 100 games that I own and haven't played yet (although some come from bundles, not all are worth playing). My new concern when I'm playing a game is whether or not the time I put into the game is well spent.
I used to really like the idea of games where it would take me 100s of hours to get to 100% completion, but now I tend to almost avoid playing them entirely even if I know I don't care about completion anymore.
I don't think I'm alone in this, but what I'm really wondering is if this is a result of getting older? Or is it because the gaming space itself has changed?
Welcome to the Patient Gamers world. Now that I'm in my late 30s with responsibilities, I'll take a short linear game (e.g. Mafia Definitive Edition) with a compelling story over long, repetitive games (e.g. Assassin's Creed). Quality over quantity for me. Since I don't have a lot of time, I want to spend some quality time with the game.
I don't really see how what you're describing relates to patient gaming -- isn't patient gaming moreso to do with waiting until games drop in price, then getting them patched up with all their DLC?
I have to say, it's also a subculture of it. When I used to participate in r/patientgamers, a lot of people (myself included) realised that we didn't care about the latest releases because of our responsibilities (and maturity), and many of us preferred short to long.
But it's not homogeneous.
I'd say it's parallel to or supportive of patient gaming.
Like, that commentor has less time to dedicate, so they'll go for games with plots they may have heard were good/engaging which may not always be the latest, pricey, AAA content. They may also return to a game they've already bought because they enjoyed it so much.
In researching games that they're interested in, they're already making value decisions based on content, so it makes sense that they may add in value considerations based on pricing as well.