Fun Per Hour

[Hoofhurr]

What's an hour of entertainment worth? Bioware has decided that an hour of downloaded game content is worth about $5. This is interesting because the main release of the same game, which a gamer might get $49.99/70 hours = $0.71/hour out of, probably cost them more to make than the add on.

[Slamz]

Heh. I'd say it depends on the novelty of the experience.

A good movie at the theater is basically $5/hr. I only go if it's a really good one - novel ("not usual or ordinary"). If it's an ordinary movie I'll wait til it comes on out DVD which will be more like $1-$2 per hour (I use Netflix).

MMORPG gameplay where you can sit down and play every day for hours is, by its nature, ordinary day-to-day entertainment and I expect to pay well under $1/hour for that. If a game was particularly novel I would pay more -- like some awesome 3-D arcade game or something that wants $5 for 15 minutes of play. I might do that. If it's awesome enough.



Bioware must think their game is at least as novel and awesome as a good movie if they're charging $5/hour. I would be terribly surprised if it's as novel as all that.

[Fretty]

It really does depend on the quality of the entertainment, as has already been mentioned. There are many things that can entertain you for 3 hours stright, but some of them will be more entertaining or enjoyable than other during those 3 hours.

As you said Slamz, for day-to-day entertainment (MMO, TV Show, etc.), I expect to pay very little, where as if something new, shiny and possibly revolutionary hits the arcade, I'd likely be more willing to spend more money per hour to play whatever that new thing is.

I'm not going to go into too much detail about this one, but I'll bring it up none-the-less:
Sex.
Some people will or have paid for sex.
Some sex is better than others.
Some can last longer than others, regardless of how good the actual sex is.
This pretty much proves that the value of entertainment per hour is completely based on the quality of the entertainment. I'm sure there have been people out there who have paid more than a years worth of an MMO for a grand 5 minutes of some lady's time. And you know what? They probably don't regret it and may even do it again.

So basically, if that 5 minutes was "out of this world" it will be worth a lot more than the $3.50/hr you spent on watching the LOTR trilogy.

I believe time is irrelevant to the value of entertainment, it's the quality that determins it's worth.
Therefor I voted "Other".

[Hoofhurr]

Agreed that quality and novelty are big components but I think many of us have done the calculation of how much value we get out of an MMOG vs other forms of entertainment and it has set a new baseline for how much I'll spend on something.

[Fretty]

I've done that same calculation only to find myself paying more per hour for certain things anyways. Which leads me to believe that for me personally, it's the quality and not necessarily the quantity that determins the value of entertainment.

I use to say to friends who thought paying monthly for a video game was a stupid idea, that they go out and spend more on any given weekend at a bar than I spend on an MMO for several months of entertainment, so I get better bang for my buck. I've come to the realization that it wasn't actually the money that made me feel that way, but the quality of entertainment itself. I like going out for a cold one as much as the average person, but in the end I prefer something that involves a little more thinking, organization and strategy, as well as group play, which is where MMO's or other games come in. It wasn't the dollars that made me feel that way, but the type of entertainment. The type of entertainment is variable depending on the person, but it directly impacts the quality to the person partaking in the activity.

[Hoofhurr]

The flip side of this debate is the gold farming one. How much would you pay to avoid doing things you have to do?

[Jakensama]

Considering at the bar is at least 10-15 bucks an hour if I am being tame, I find all video games pretty budget.

[Hoofhurr]

I never make it to bars where 10-15 bucks an hour would get me more than 2 drinks. It's nice to grab a thirty pack for that much though and try to hit pigeons with the empties

[Jakensama]

10-15 rate years ago.. I was trying to sound like less of an alkie. I do miss the concept of a 30 pack though.

I was in one club the other night and ordered two vodka red bulls - 22.50. Fuck clubs.

[Kakarat]

10-15 rate years ago.. I was trying to sound like less of an alkie. I do miss the concept of a 30 pack though.

I was in one club the other night and ordered two vodka red bulls - 22.50. Fuck clubs.

Clubs are for dancing and picking up chicks, not to get drunk.

[Vanraw]

Clubs are for dancing and picking up chicks, not to get drunk.

Unless your a "chick" right? Other wise they wouldnt have anything to do with "the purge" fatties"

[Jakensama]

10-15 rate years ago.. I was trying to sound like less of an alkie. I do miss the concept of a 30 pack though.

I was in one club the other night and ordered two vodka red bulls - 22.50. Fuck clubs.

Clubs are for dancing and picking up chicks, not to get drunk.

Drinking facilitates both dancing and picking up chicks. I absolutely despise the places myself, I find it morally repugnant to pay a cover charge to get in anywhere that isn't playing live music or doesn't have naked women dancing around poles. Let alone to pay for the privlige of hearing shitty music and overpaying for your drinks.

[Breand]

The last time I went to a club it was 10 years ago in the U.K. because there was no other option to find a drink at 1AM.

[Vllad]

Maybe this thread should have excluded activities related to ones penis. We should be willing to pay untold fortunes to satisfy ones penis while there are limitations outside of the penis world.


Vllad

[Diggles]

I did $2 hr, because thats about how much you pay for internet or cable TV a day, and they give you about an hour of entertainment each

[grizzle]

Voted Other:

It depends not only on the type of entertainment, but also how often I plan to engage in it.

For example, I have a Netflix subscription of $15 per month. Not only can I have 2 movies sent to me at a time, but I can stream movies 24/7 all month long if I wanted to. That equates to about $0.02 per hour.

Same thing with MMOs - the monthly subscription is about $15 (discounting the initial purchase of the game), and with the game being available to me 24/7, that equates to about $0.02 per hour.

Both of those seem fair to me because while they are available to me 24/7 all month long, and I could get that much content if I wanted, odds are I won't. I'll get maybe $0.12 per hour for the hours I play. Which is still really cheap.

Other forms of entertainment are different though. A night out drinking with friends, which I might do once every few months, will cost me anywhere from $50-$200. Tack on to that the cost of taxi cab fare, all the crappy junk food I eat that night, as well as the following couple of days for comfort/hangover food, and we're talking a total of $200-$400 for an evening out for maybe 4 or 5 hours. But because I only do it once every 3-6 months, and because the enjoyment I get out of it (that night, not the following day) is immensely more fun than grinding XP at the cost of $0.12 per hour, I am fine with paying that cost.

Back in college when I was poor, and could barely afford cigarettes (this was when I smoked), my friends and I would go to this one particular dance club. We were forced to buy two horribly overpriced drinks each, but we got free all-we-could-eat popcorn, and we had the added benefit of staring at really hot chicks. All night long. So for $15, we got two strong drinks, free popcorn (dinner), and hot, hot scenery at the cost of about $5 per hour. Well worth it!

Skydiving is something I really want to do. Haven't checked into prices lately, but if I remember correctly, something like $300 per person? So, something like $75 per hour? Hell ya I'd do that!

And I pay about $60 per hour for a personal trainer. She's easy on the eyes, but other than that, I wouldn't call it entertainment. It's freaking painful! But something I have to do the older I get, so again, well worth it.


I'm a bit of an adreneline junkie though. I'd gladly pay a couple hundred an hour for a speed rush of an experience, but I'm starting to find it really difficult to pay $0.12 per hour to sit stagnant in my computer chair grinding xp and virtual cash.

[Diggles]

Maybe you should play more action games. I still get sweats and heart racing in certain games

[grizzle]

Maybe you should play more action games. I still get sweats and heart racing in certain games

Feel free to throw out some examples. It's been a really long time since I played a video game that actually made, and kept, my heart racing.

[Diggles]

Day of Defeat: Source

6th Ranger Battalion #1 HLStatsx|Medic|FF
8.9.30.123:27015

You spawn with 80 health, meaning the guns are more deadly.
If you are under 20hp, you can call medic and get 50~hp back

All talk gets a bit of getting used to, but its fun to taunt the guys once you know them.

They play alot of pickup games of 'realism' that I dont care for, but this is your pug server thats fun to play, lots of admins around to boot hackers and people who dont follow the rules.

DoD:S Still has the best infantry combat IMO

[1000xZero]

That is why I play DoD:Source. It is a great game.

[Fretty]

Left 4 Dead 2's Scavenge mode is actually giving me that feeling. When a match is coming down to it's final moments, or possibly even overtime, it's great excitement. When it's a blowout, one way or another, not so much though.

I just hope Valve releases some official added maps this time around though.

[Moristans]

An hour's worth of entertainment is worth exactly what you will pay for it.

I've dropped $100 an hour sake bombing at Tokyo Delves in North Hollywood and didn't even think twice about it. Based on the amount payed on my monthly subscription to WoW and the hours I was putting in a month, I spent 37.5 cents an hour raiding Molten Core once and wondered what the hell I was doing when I could have been spending $100 an hour Sake Bombing at Tokyo Delves.

In the end, it didn't matter what I perceived as being the quality of my experience. I still spent exactly $100 an hour sake bombing at Tokyo Delves and 37.5 cents an hour raiding Molten Core.

The only thing the quality of experience did was determine whether or not I would ever pay X amount of money on a particular experience again.

[Fretty]

The only thing the quality of experience did was determine whether or not I would ever pay X amount of money on a particular experience again.

Isn't that the same thing I said though?
The quality determines whether you will, or will not pay anything at all for whatever that "entertainment" is.

Or are you trying to say that the amount of money has no bearing what-so-ever on your decision, it's purely based on whether you liked the activity/entertainment or not? If that's the case, would you be willing to spend $950/hour on that same sake bombing night purely because it was fun?

I doubt people would have paid $150 to see whatever their favorite movie was, or spend $75/month on their favorite MMO. At least I know I wouldn't.

Grizzle brought up skydiving. I've heard it's a hell of a rush and for those who like that kinda feeling LOVE skydiving. I really doubt though, if his estimate of $75/hour for a skydiving session turned into $250 an hour, that he'd be just as willing to do it, despite the fact that he wants to, the price is still at the point where someone has to step back and decide if it's "worth it" for what you get in comparison to what you're spending.

Just my opinion. I think our ideas matched in a way, but were different in another way.

[Moristans]

Isn't that the same thing I said though?
The quality determines whether you will, or will not pay anything at all for whatever that "entertainment" is.

Well, kinda, except I'm talking about the difference between doing something for the first time, and paying for it again I guess.

I don't care how fun it looks. Of course if I don't have the money, I can't do it, first time or whenever.

My point was that, even if it turned out I didn't like Sake Bombing, I paid $100 an hour for it so that's what it was worth. Personally, I wouldn't pay $950 an hour for Sake Bombing because I can't drink that much sake and beer, or eat that much sushi, but I'm sure somebody out there can and has. At that point, that's how much that hour of entertainment is worth.

I'm not trying to be cute, but the question was pretty open.

[Hoofhurr]

I hate the argument that something is worth what you are willing to pay for it. That's a demand side argument and I always felt like an idiot explaining that to buyers. Why isn't something worth what it cost to bring it to market? You'll save a lot more cash if you approach your purchases with the question, "What are you willing to sell it for?" This might be semantics but it also has to do with mindset. If you paid $100 for something and someone else pays $75 for it, you got screwed.