How should time limits be handled imo:
1. Player should not be limited by real or ingame time (ie 5 minutes, 5 ingame days, ...)
- with an exeption of running away from explosion and that should be done by badass cutscene anyway
2. Player should be limited by his prioritizing instead (ie. dont leave some area before finishing quest, finishing one quest before another, finishing quest before moving on with main story)
- (DA:O) Village is going to be attacked tonight either you decide to stay and help or leave. If you have left and returned next morning the village should be in a state after attack (but the attack does not have to mean that the village lost and everyone died, the villagers will try to fight back, I hate if world spins around the heroes and ordinary people just lie down and die unless they are helped by PC)
3. If there is a time constrain (only at night, only from 8-16, only at full moon) player must have good option available to let him wait for that anywhere its applicable
4. Failing time limit should not mean fail of the quest, fail of the game, it should open different scenario, give new or other options, change the enviroment
- (Heavy Rain) Either you escape police chase in time and you continue from subway where you escaped or you are caucht by the police and you continue your story from police station, or either you solve some riddle on time and you continue with riddle solved or you fail and you continue without it and have to look for other clues
* with the village example if there has been attack every night before the player came, that means the village managed to survive for long before the player came, the village will last more nights for sure, some people might die (closing their roles as shoppers, quest givers, hint givers, ...) other people might arrive (new shoppers, new quest givers, new hint givers, ...) , ie. helping to rally the villagers and then leaving to explore the source of trouble might be better then staying and fighting alongside or might not, maybe the attack will ruin some house and reveal a great mystery. And this comes back to point 4. Every decision should lead somewhere, things should not be black and white ... things should be in different shades of pink
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How should time limits be handled imo: 1. Player should not be limited by real or ingame time (ie 5 minutes, 5 ingame days, ...) - with an exeption of running away from explosion and that should be done by badass cutscene anyway 2. Player should be limited by his prioritizing instead (ie. dont leave some area before finishing quest, finishing one quest before another, finishing quest before moving on with main story) - (DA:O) Village is going to be attacked tonight either you decide to stay and help or leave. If you have left and returned next morning the village should be in a state after attack (but the attack does not have to mean that the village lost and everyone died, the villagers will try to fight back, I hate if world spins around the heroes and ordinary people just lie down and die unless they are helped by PC) 3. If there is a time constrain (only at night, only from 8-16, only at full moon) player must have good option available to let him wait for that anywhere its applicable 4. Failing time limit should not mean fail of the quest, fail of the game, it should open different scenario, give new or other options, change the enviroment - (Heavy Rain) Either you escape police chase in time and you continue from subway where you escaped or you are caucht by the police and you continue your story from police station, or either you solve some riddle on time and you continue with riddle solved or you fail and you continue without it and have to look for other clues * with the village example if there has been attack every night before the player came, that means the village managed to survive for long before the player came, the village will last more nights for sure, some people might die (closing their roles as shoppers, quest givers, hint givers, ...) other people might arrive (new shoppers, new quest givers, new hint givers, ...) , ie. helping to rally the villagers and then leaving to explore the source of trouble might be better then staying and fighting alongside or might not, maybe the attack will ruin some house and reveal a great mystery. And this comes back to point 4. Every decision should lead somewhere, things should not be black and white ... things should be in different shades of pink