From the article:
"Playing a long RPG with tons of choices is fantastic, but it also feels like a luxury of youth."
This pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject as well. In my 20s, when I was just starting my career, I didn't have a ton of obligations. Since my wife was also into PC gaming, cracking off a 4 hr session of co-op NWN was
awesome and doable. Now in my 40s, free time seems to be a luxury. I've got way more responsibilities at work leading a team of developers; my daughter has her extra curricular activities, needs help with homework, or just wants to play; my dog demands attention; then there is house maintenance; and in-between all of that my wife and I try to find time for each other. Throw in trying to keep an aging body in-shape and free time is a luxury. As much as I'd love to spend 4 hrs a day questing or world building, I just can't. Any free time I do have is usually spent keeping up on new software stacks or just ... spacing out for 1/2hr lol.
So I can relate to this article. On the flip-side though, I don't think a lot of these short-session games that just have you doing shallow, mundane/grinding tasks are really any better. Sure, it's easier to leave that type of game for a few days and come back without having to remember the 20 tasks you were trying to accomplish - but these shallow games also feel like a waste of valuable time.
I love big open worlds, with rich dialogue and choices - heck I've committed to playing RDR 2 on the PC because I've been waiting for that game for what feels like forever. With that said, I've got more
unplayed games in my Steam library than I care to admit, all of them purchased because they were deep, involved games...and I had every intention to play them. But, almost invariably, when it came time to sit down and play, the reality of knowing I'd have to invest a significant amount of time to get the most out of those games felt exhausting.
There are so many great games out there now, from AAA and indie developers, that there truly isn't enough time in a day to play them all. So I believe there is still an audience for the 100+ hr game, I'm just not sure it's me anymore.