Ok. I do NOT understand HOW anyone can finish a BG3 playthrough in less than 200 hours...

[Çylladora Vanyamar]

...I mean how (ooh, a barrel - loots).. does one even get through (omg a corpse - loots) Act I in less than even 70 (shoot, did I loot than ribcage back there? nope, walk back fifty yards and click) hours. I don't want to call anyone a liar (that crate behind the five stacked crates in the corner must have something, I'll bet - click - nope but better safe than sorry), but anyone who brags about these 40 hour or less playthroughs is either (does that rat talk? yeah I bet he talks - nope, weird) exaggerating or is not keeping proper (just need to go back into that burning building and loot that last shovel - there we go, ouch, ... ouch ouch) track of their play time.

[hornsounder97]

Maybe some people aren't keen on finishing a game as soon as possible, and just enjoy the ride.

[Firecam]

I did my honor one is 45 but i bruteforced most of the dialogue options so that's why. My tactician ones are around 65-70+, except my first playthrough that took like 120+.

[Silyon]

Lots of people simply don't loot everything, that's how. When the overwhelming majority of crates and barrels in the game only have random junk items with a poor weight-to-gold ratio, and a good number of other containers are always empty, the adverage player stops bothering to check those containers in short order. Especially once you realize, on later playthroughs, that 90% of all the noteworthy equipment in the game is either gifted as quest rewards, found specifically in chests, or dropped by named enemies. If it's not just sitting out in the open somewhere and highlights when you hold ctrl.

That's quite a lot of time saved before even starting to look at speedrun tactics, like which quests and interactions to skip because they're not worth the time it would take, shortcuts and path optimizations, and combat cheese.

[hermit0wl]

I think you forgot to check those bookshelves over there.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Çylladora Vanyamar:

Ok. I do NOT understand HOW anyone can finish a BG3 playthrough in less than 200 hours...
...I mean how (ooh, a barrel - loots).. does one even get through (omg a corpse - loots) Act I in less than even 70 (shoot, did I loot than ribcage back there? nope, walk back fifty yards and click) hours. I don't want to call anyone a liar (that crate behind the five stacked crates in the corner must have something, I'll bet - click - nope but better safe than sorry), but anyone who brags about these 40 hour or less playthroughs is either (does that rat talk? yeah I bet he talks - nope, weird) exaggerating or is not keeping proper (just need to go back into that burning building and loot that last shovel - there we go, ouch, ... ouch ouch) track of their play time.

Some people do tiktok. Others do Stephen King.
Same goes with the content the game has to offer. I lost track on which playthrough I am, and my first sure got to almost 120 hours - and I am still discovering new stuff. But then I also take my time and enjoy the game as good as I can. Mods can help with that too as the game easily gets a different feel and look with e.g. WASD/Native Camera Tweaks.

[Kafik]

I don't understand how it can take someone 200 hours, or even 150 hours to finish this game.

[Razorblade]

The critical path is about 20 hours of content if you're not having to reload battles due to tactical errors. Bump that up to 30 if you're doing a little side content to prevent being too underlevelled in Act 1 and 2 (it's pretty much impossible to not reach max level during Act 3 no matter how underlevelled you enter).

It's not really hard to imagine; you're likely doing every little thing on the map, and that's simply not how everyone plays, nor is it remotely necessary to succeed at the game. Some people like to take one path on one playthrough, and another on the next, rather than zigzagging to every spot on the map in a single run.

[Sentient_Toaster]

Originally posted by Silyon:

Lots of people simply don't loot everything, that's how. When the overwhelming majority of crates and barrels in the game only have random junk items with a poor weight-to-gold ratio, and a good number of other containers are always empty, the adverage player stops bothering to check those containers in short order.

That. Doesn't feel worth the time to be grabbing every candlestick or bit of rotten food and traveling back to a merchant to sell them. If I'm methodically searching a location with an eye towards being comprehensive rather than searching for some specific target, it's probably just checking each room for enemies that need killing.

There's also quest lines that will get ignored even though they're quests. Seek assistance from a goblin priestess of the Absolute? No, I don't think I will... because that makes her a priority target, not an asset.

[Nial]

Originally posted by hermit0wl:

I think you forgot to check those bookshelves over there.

Ah crap, I can't reach that scroll! Maybe if I stack some boxes... no, that's not it. A-ha, managed to throw it down. Mage armor. Worth the 5 minutes I've spent fishing it out.

[Izuzul]

Containers?? Bah.... If you didn't light every candle, torch, candelabra, and brazier, you didn't beat the game.

[Comrade Glootchi]

some people just dont have ADHD + the attention span of a dog.

[Orion Invictus]

Originally posted by Comrade Glootchi:

some people just dont have ADHD + the attention span of a dog.

I have ADHD and played this for over 1000 hours. Maybe look into what ADHD is?

[Underprivileged White Male]

Originally posted by Silyon:

Lots of people simply don't loot everything, that's how. When the overwhelming majority of crates and barrels in the game only have random junk items with a poor weight-to-gold ratio, and a good number of other containers are always empty, the adverage player stops bothering to check those containers in short order. Especially once you realize, on later playthroughs, that 90% of all the noteworthy equipment in the game is either gifted as quest rewards, found specifically in chests, or dropped by named enemies. If it's not just sitting out in the open somewhere and highlights when you hold ctrl.

That's quite a lot of time saved before even starting to look at speedrun tactics, like which quests and interactions to skip because they're not worth the time it would take, shortcuts and path optimizations, and combat cheese.

95% of loot is junk, and 60% of side content isn't worth the time to XP investment. Once you realize that the total gametime drops by 60-70%. Pretty much the moment you hit Wrym Bridge and ding level 12, then hit BG itself and realize you have ten's of thousands of gold with absolutely nothing else worth buying, you really feel how MUCH time you wasted. You can skip half of act 1, 2/3 of act 2, and still hit level cap and have all the best gear.

End of the day the loot/xp almost entirely comes from storyline, and vendors anyway. The only reason to do most of the side stuff is if you are trying to toss together one of the many weird exploitable builds, or actually care about the side plots, which if you ask me, aren't that interesting and seemed designed entirely to pad gametime.

[silentcrow01]

MUST LOOT ALL THE THINGS!!!! :)

[Crassonator]

Yeh im nearing 500hrs and ive barely reached act 3