How long should you be playing until you get to marriage?

[Kattycake]

1. I would play half a month to a full month before getting married. But for most people, according to the poll, it would not be instant.
In terms of designing, this means that some items/skills or whatever that is related to marriage can slowly develop.

2. Until getting married, in HM, I spent 2 full "in game" years. That is close to 66 hours for me.

3. After you get married in the game would you?....

a. possibly get bored playing since you reached your goal: Yes, end game content like progressive stories or side activities are a must.
I always stop playing a game and won't spend any money on it if it "stops" being entertaining. I usually play an MMO 6-8 months but no longer if there are no updates.
b. restart as a new character and profession rinse repeat I like to make 2-3 different characters and each a different profession.
c. be interested in continuing the game as your kid. Absolutley you have no idea. An MMO with a life cycle would be great, but I know a lot of gamer would be mad (if their character permanently died and what not) and I know this isn't the aim of Pumpkin Online anyway.
d. continue the game to completion as far as possible Yes. Achievements, maxing out skills, etc.
e. will be off doing other things More than the main story/questline? Yes absolutely I tend to wander and do my own thing.

[coralonline]

1. I think if it is too easy to get married, it completely loses the point. But if it's too difficult (too many quests or having to get an uber rare item) then it's annoying. I think it would make sense for different characters to have different requirements and lengths of time before you can marry them. I think the witch-like weather guru character on Rune Factory 2 showed this. Her personality was more picky than the rest of the marriage candidates, so it took more effort to woo her. Then the other side of the spectrum was Rock on HM: AnWL. You didn't even have to talk to him and he loved you. But both of these fit with the characters. As far as marrying other players, that's already kind of worked out on it's own. If you can convince them to marry you, then you don't really need to woo or date them. Maybe simple requirements like having a ring and ceremony, or however you were going to work that out(for this, I think of Maplestory system of marriage).

2. It felt like it took too long to get married in most Harvest Moon games. There were usually a lot of requirements, in my opinion, with the exception of HM:AnWL. You had to upgrade your house, buy a double bed, and get a ring/blue feather(and in HM: Magical Melody, I fell of the cliff face a cussable amount of time before I got that cussable blue feather), at the very least. Then sometimes you had to go on a whole wild goose chase of requirements for them.

3. Marriage usually was my goal in Harvest Moon. But what I liked most was interesting dialogue and storylines. Marriage candidates were usually the ones with the most mapped out dialogues and the marriage was usually just the logical end. My favorite HM was HM:AnWL because it had cut scenes with different stories and you had a kid you could raise and the kid actually grew up. I liked that part a lot. So....

a. I'll get bored with the game if there aren't story lines and I'll quit playing
b. If there are different professions, I'll want to start over and play through most of them.
c. I think it would be awesome to start over as the kid. It would be cool if you could raise the kid a bit or have multiple kids(even twins). And it would be cool if, when you started over, your original character didn't die. But all that might be way too complicated. I still think it would be cool, though. (I also like being able to influence the kids career, like in HM:AnWL).
d. If there is still stuff to do, I'll keep doing it as long as it is interesting.
e. Be off doing other things? Like IRL? Yeah... Sadly that does get in the way of video games.


What I do after marriage in the game depends mostly on how you make the game. But I'm sure that marriage will just be a small component of it and there will be plenty of other things around to keep interest.

[Mizuki Takashima]

Sorry I'm kinda late to the party, but I figured I'd throw in my two cents anyway.

Generally, when you want to get married to another player, you have to pay a pretty hefty fee of in-game currency. Depending on how long it takes to earn that currency, that's usually how long a wait marriage is.

But when it comes to marrying an NPC, I don't know if there'd really be a "wait" time? You could more or less just propose to them when the time is right.

As for Part 3 of the question, for me it'd be a mix of:
b. restart as a new character and profession rinse repeat
d. continue the game to completion as far as possible
e. will be off doing other things

If I had to continue the game as my kid, I'd probably lose interest because I'd lose all my stats and I'd be starting over from scratch. Plus I tried to play as my Sim's kids in Sims 2, and it felt...weird. I ended up missing my old characters and I couldn't really think of a personality for my character's offspring =/

[Velktor]

1. How long playing Pumpkin Online would you be willing to wait/ play before you get married to another player or NPC.

I'd be willing to wait a good long time, I'm one of those people who always puts it off for ages in the Harvest Moon games, despite often marrying the "easier," early to appear characters. I think if it could happen too quickly it would cheapen it a little. That said, in a game , especially an MMO if you're playing it most days, can feel like a pretty long time if you're hankering for something. I doubt I will be but others might be.

2. Does anyone know how many hours they put into any HM game before they got married. If not hours the time they spent playing to 'complete' the game

On my current play through of HM A New Beginning I'm at 115 hours and still a long way off getting married (though choice, not necessity of waiting).

3. After you get married in the game would you?

b. restart as a new character and profession rinse repeat
d. continue the game to completion as far as possible

I'd be doing d for as long as possible and then probably start up a new character if there wasn't much "end game" stuff to do. If there was though, I generally like to play one character and spend ages making them and their progress awesome. ^_^

[TheIronGod]

I can't answer this poll accurately. You need to ask how many hours, because on a long enough time line the difference between casual and "serious" gaming is astronomical. 3 months of work for me in a game someone else might kick out in a week.

That said...

1. How long playing Pumpkin Online would you be willing to wait/ play before you get married to another player or NPC.

You should have to work for it. Marrying another player should obviously be between them, and happen whenever they want. But personally I would feel cheated if it was too easy to get an NPC spouse. The journey is part of the experience and the fun. Plus, if it was too easy then it wouldn't feel special. On the flip side, if it's too hard then it just comes off as some arbitrary end-game achievement instead of natural event in a story about people. So, I'd say find a happy medium.

3. After you get married in the game would you?

a. possibly get bored playing since you reached your goal

Not if I can interact with my spouse... take them out, talk, exchange gifts.

b. restart as a new character and profession rinse repeat

Doing stuff with the spouse would probably be more reason for me NOT to start over.

c. be interested in continuing the game as your kid.

That's a cool idea!

d. continue the game to completion as far as possible

Marriage isn't my main goal so, yes.

e. will be off doing other things

Depends on what there is to do!

[realAniram]

1. How long playing Pumpkin Online would you be willing to wait/ play before you get married to another player or NPC.

I think it could be something like how HM implements it (talking/gifting to get points and seeing events), you could be spending all your time wooing your potential spouse and so it would only take about one month/season to actually get to marriage and then you play the game.

But then for roleplay purposes, maybe there'd be an option where you can choose to be married to an NPC immediately with a summary of their relationship/mannerisms towards you after the events you skipped. IE, dialogue saying because they're a doctor you two fell in love while they were fussing over how you have such a physically demanding profession and now they say 'Be careful because if you collapse I'll kill you.' to mean 'I love you, have a good day'.

2. Does anyone know how many hours they put into any HM game before they got married. If not hours the time they spent playing to 'complete' the game

I used to pursue my intended spouse as soon as I unlocked them, but now I focus on finishing the game first, so ~100 hours? xD In ANB I've got 167 hours in and have been playing about one season past when I beat the story, almost to the requirements for my bachelor's reverse proposal.

3. After you get married in the game would you?
a. possibly get bored playing since you reached your goal
b. restart as a new character and profession rinse repeat
c. be interested in continuing the game as your kid.
d. continue the game to completion as far as possible

1. Maybe, but as long as there's collections it'll keep me busy. And I become a bit of a completionist when it comes to achievements so those would keep me coming back.
2. Yep, I make alts all the time when I get bored with my current profession or just bored with the quests my character has.
3. Yes. Somebody asked how this would happen in playerXplayer marriages, and I have an idea that ties in with a romance level/XP bar idea I have that I'll explain more if asked since this is already long. Basically, if you reach the playable child milestone on your relationship XP bar both players will have the option to use their's and their spouse's character designs in a random combination as the look for one new character created on their account (player 1 and player 2 each get only one alt created using this method). Would probably be heavy on data usage.
4. Yes, but I'm not hardcore so I would be very off and on.

[TimeMachine]

1. How long playing Pumpkin Online would you be willing to wait/ play before you get married to another player or NPC.

I think 3 months is good? I think anything shorter than two months (assuming you're playing somewhat regularly but not like excessively obsessively) is too easy and fast and doesn't really get you committed into the game. With MMOs you want to make a long term commitment. But anything longer than 4 or 5 months and you might start to lose people to it taking to long for things to happen.

I have 214 hours in Rune Factory right now and I'm still not married. Though I've been proposed to a lot, but I decided to be a heartbreaker and not marry until I'd been proposed to by everyone, so maybe that's not the best number to follow.

2. Does anyone know how many hours they put into any HM game before they got married. If not hours the time they spent playing to 'complete' the game

Like I said, I'm at 214 hours in Rune Factory right now, and while I sometimes hiatus it to play other things, I also consistently go back to it.

I don't know how many hours I put into HM:Animal Parade before I got married, but I feel like it was at least 60-100? We don't have the Wii set up right now so I can't check how much play time I have in there, but I haven't been married long.

3. After you get married in the game would you?

a. possibly get bored playing since you reached your goal

Probably not assuming there's enough to do in friendshipping quests and building and gathering and expanding and festivals and other things. And hopefully there'd be things to do in the marriage after getting married too.

b. restart as a new character and profession rinse repeat

I do like to try new professions, and it would be fun to see different marriages, but it depends on if it would mean sacrificing too much in-game progress and relationships. I've never done this in a HM game. I don't think I would.

c. be interested in continuing the game as your kid.

This could be really fun, especially if you were able to customize your kid as a new character upon choosing this option and they inherited your farm. It might be a way to get around the "no character makeover" mechanic. Your character can't have a cosmetic surgery or anything, but their kid can "come of age" when you start to play them and you can customize them then. Especially if your username serves as like a family name/surname that gets passed on but you get to pick a new name for the NPCs to call you. It's a nice way to try new professions and romance lines without having to lose all your progress and relationships, especially if the kid "inherits" some relationship with the people their parents were friends with. I would be 100% behind this idea if your old PC and their spouse stuck around the house as NPCs, like "Oh, that's grandma in the corner. Go pull some weeds, grandma" and your old PC hobbles around, lol.

d. continue the game to completion as far as possible

Probably this, especially if I was really attached to my character and their relationships. Marriage isn't the be-all, end-all. It's hopefully just one of the cool things you can do.

[Prismshard]

1.) To me 3 months seems like a good amount of time. I feel like the gradual process of learning about the characters as they open up to the player is the most rewarding part of games with dating sim and romantic route elements. I worry that if it's a process that can be powered through too quickly, then it won't feel as rewarding as if players have to take their time.

2.) It's hard to say. Based on the time listed on my 3DS, I got married in Rune Factory 4 after around 131 hours of game play and my file was in the end of it's 3rd year. That is by far the longest it's ever taken me to get married in a Harvest Moon-esc game. THat being said though I didn't mind because there was so much other content and things to work towards while I waited for the last character event I needed to trigger.

3.) b. I tend to get bored of a file in Harvest Moon games once I either get married or finished raising the child to their oldest stage. Once I would reach that point, I would tend to restart, but I think I most tend to feel that way because marriage is often one of the biggest end goals in the games.....not in ALL of them, but in a lot. I think that as long as content, quests, and other's player can keep me busy though I could probably keep going back to one main file while having other characters onside.

[gabzo]

. How long playing Pumpkin Online would you be willing to wait/ play before you get married to another player or NPC.
1 month minimum. Additionally I think it would be cool if every NPC can only be married to one person at a time and the difficulty to woo someone would depend on which characters the NPC is most interested in.

2. Does anyone know how many hours they put into any HM game before they got married. If not hours the time they spent playing to 'complete' the game
N/A
3. After you get married in the game would you?

a. possibly get bored playing since you reached your goal
Depends on the way the game was made. If there is a lot more to do after marriage (which I hope there is) then I'd continue. Don't make this the hardest thing to do and make it that there is a lot that can be done and a lot of fun and ways to spend the currency you make.
b. restart as a new character and profession rinse repeat
I don't like creating new characters often. Only games I do it in is war like games where there are to sides to them.
c. be interested in continuing the game as your kid.
No
d. continue the game to completion as far as possible
YES
e. will be off doing other things
Could be all depending on how much you have to do in the game.

[TimeMachine]

. How long playing Pumpkin Online would you be willing to wait/ play before you get married to another player or NPC.
1 month minimum. Additionally I think it would be cool if every NPC can only be married to one person at a time and the difficulty to woo someone would depend on which characters the NPC is most interested in.

I think this might be difficult to pull off, depending on the number of players. I know they are trying to make quite a few marriageable NPCs (it looks like far more than any Harvest Moon game has offered) but if you have thousands of players and only 20 or 50 or even 100 can get married (at least to NPCs) that cuts off a lot of the game to a lot of people.

That being said this does bring up something that might be fun - customizing your spouse after marriage? Not like in a character creation way (and hopefully nothing too creepy? I want to feel like my spouse is a person with autonomy for it to feel romantic and fun), but if you could buy your spouse clothes or items that they will wear or equip, have "inside jokes" that turn into unique catchphrases or greeting, if the way you interacted with your spouse after marriage was remembered and their behavior or looks, then that'd be kind of neat. You and a friend could both be married to NPC John Doe, but my NPC John Doe after years of marriage looks and acts differently than their NPC John Doe. So that even if lots of people are a married to the same person, it doesn't really feel like it.

Do we know if divorce will be allowed in the game? On the one hand, I want your in-game choices to have weight and matter and divorce seems messy, and not necessarily fitting with the tone. On the other hand I can totally imagine a scenario (this is main way I imagine it being called for) where either:

1. You married an NPC but now you've made a best friend or met your real life soulmate who plays the game, and you want to marry them in the game instead, since you're attached at the hip/married in real life, but one or both of you are already married to NPCs.

2. You married another player, but either they've become inactive or you've had a real life falling out and you want to be able to distance yourselves from them.

I suppose in-game divorce could be given an uplifting tone of choice and consent, it doesn't have to be the heartbreaking thing it usually is (but isn't always) in the real world. You'd want to put a strong disincentive or something on NPC divorce, though, if the game wasn't meant for a single character to circle through all NPCs and the intention was for you to create new characters for that.