From you and the other witcher-related responses, i think i will take the dive into witcher 1, see how i like it (but dont let it drive me away from 3 in the future if i hate some aspects of it) .... what two area do you speak of?

i rarely play a game to completion, lol. usually play for a few hours or a few days, and then get bored because of lack of options or monotonous/tedius/easy gameplay, and as i mentioned my available playtime is extensive, i need not be that picky about what i play.... i can pick up anything, with a fairly-confident idea that it'll entertain me for a few days, and not take away too much time from finding that perfect game that'll last me forever. (exaggeratedly speaking.) ..... this "black flag" i will take a look into though.

Edit: just looked it up, and lol. arse greed i was unaware meant assassins creed. that's a series i never stepped into. always been a little curious, but also always very skeptical (and turned away by) its hype. so many other people like it, its probably not something i'd enjoy, understanding im "one of the few" .... at your suggestion, i may give it a shot though.

ooooooh, a nice, big, thorough listing, including games i have never heard of..... lets follow the list in order: path of exile. loved the game for quite a while. the "passive skill tree", the skill system (slots, skills, supplements/aids/i-forgot-what-they-were-called), the customization and specialization and ability to theorycraft off the wall things to do. all beautiful, all perfect, all very much entertaining..... however, path of exile's flaws unfortunately shine brighter than the beauties i just mentioned.... in no particular order: 1, often while i am playing, i feel this flashback to diablo 2, the lack of real "interaction" and the monotony/grind of the same stuff over and over. all the maps are so similar, and there are so few maps, and during gameplay progression there are some key predictable aspects that just make the play boring. 2: its an online game, and as you said: not condusive to my job..... as well as some personal preferences for offline games for other reasons (if i like a game and lose net, ima be upset i cant play it. give me something i know will always be playable) .... and last but definately not least: that game is ruled by RNGeesus, and RNGeesus is an evil, evil, malicious god.

the next three, i have never heard of... arx fatalis and starbound both sound well worth shots, and have been added to my wishlist.... fonline, although sounding very intriguing and i very much want to try it: i'll have to give it a pass, because not only is it online, but a dead online.... if i take the leap to play online, ima want some other people to play with, lol.

A little in the first chapter. - Barghests.
In the sewers in the second chapter. - Ghouls and Alghouls.
In a cave in the third chapter. - Insectoids.

Got the idea from a guide on Gamefaqs. A little level-grinding allows to enjoy the game better.
The Third game requires no such XP hunting though.

"More" you say? Does it have to be modern?

Arcanum
Pretty much a steampunk fallout. Massive game with possibly an even larger scope than Fallout 2.

OpenXcom
One of the best, most in depth games I've ever played, and now updated for a modern age! And like JA2 it can be massively expanded with mods, adding stuff like a MiB faction (which was originally planned apparently) and tons of new weapons. There's even a total conversion mod that creates a new game based on amazon-type warrior women :
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/03/30/x-piratez-xcom-mod/

Cataclysm : DDA
The Dwarf Fortress of post apocalyptic survival. I tried neo scavenger after CDDA, and though it was pretty fun, I quickly started to miss CDDA's sheer depth. It has very active community and it is still being developed with almost daily updates. Check out the subreddit to get a better idea of the game.
https://www.reddit.com/r/cataclysmdda/
By the way you don't have to play with ascii graphics. There are several graphical tilesets, and I like to use one of the more retro looking ones: http://www.cesspit.net/misc/catatiny16.gif

Terraria
Warning, this thing will swallow your life...

Damn straight it is! :>

Regarding Path of Exile: the game's changing all the time. Depending on when you tried it, some of your concerns may have been aleviated. The introduction of trading cards (it's honestly not what it sounds like) for example made farming in much lower zones valid, thus adding a bit more diversity to the process, and trading has been streamlined a bit as well, which would address much of the RNG problems.
Though many of the flaws just come with the territory, so it's understandably out of the equasion.

Okay, so the game is online and it is definitely off the table for your user case, but I will say this: there is something to be said for a tiny playerbase and the playerbase was very tight-knit - well, as much as you can be when you constantly kill, rob and sort of borderline despise eachother. As I mentioned, everyone knows everyone, so after a while you're a known figure and play a part in the history of that world and not just with a handful of people you happen to party with and never see again after. It's like you and everyone else don't just play on a server, but become part of it, almost as if you were taking on the roles of NPCs. In a weird way it's actually easier to play with other people. I'm a bit of an introvert and generally tend to solo MMOs, but with such a small playerbase that's not really an option (especially with open PVP, where you will get shot, whether you want to or not) - not because of difficult content, but you don't have the anonymity of the masses.
Having experienced both, personally I much prefer a game with 100 players over one with 100,000.

I mean, that doesn't help you in your situation, granted, I just wanted to make a case for smaller games. The dead need love, too.

lmao, i completely misunderstood your statement. mentally associating witcher with one of my true loves (morrowind) in various respects, when you said "level up in a few areas" snip "make combat easier" ..... i for some reason thought you meant a skill of some kind. example of my train of thought being: level up in spear and light armor for the first few hours, it'll make game easier and let you enjoy it", type of "level up in certain areas"

nope, doesnt have to be modern. depending on context. based on your suggestions, i assume you mean modern in regards to game/graphics/etcetera (as opposed to modern in regards to theme/content. non-modern meaning medieval. swords and bows instead of guns type of non-modern) ...... in either context, it doesnt need to be modern, but in regards to game/graphics/etcetera, i think im going to need more modern than that CDDA. i'm willing to weigh the suggestion and give it a shot, even though the linked video (and even the linked tileset) turn me off quite a bit. if you suggest it after reading what im asking for (and saying a phrase like "sheer depth"), i must have to look past that appearance.

arcanum i already have (and running very well on my netbook), so that is indeed on my to-play list, and openxcom looking intriguing (and being free it appears) makes it worth a try.

terraria i've heard a lot, but i havent heard it in the same sense as i've heard many other games..... i've heard it a lot in different context, and with your reminder, i just added it to my wishlist.

from what you say of PoE, i guess i've missed a whole helluva lot in my absence (yeah, it's been years since i played) ...... and as hypocritical as it seems, i also like to "solo mmos", so what i meant by people to play with, isnt really people to play with, its..... i dunno. like, i like to solo mmos, i like to play alone, and accomplish things alone, but by the nature of me being online, i need to be able to see other people when im out doing stuff, and i need to have people to chat with, and people to trade with, etcetera. otherwise, why am i online? lol. i do fully understand the benefits of small groups and knowing everyone, as you indicate, however, and im not ragging on a dead game as so (one of my all time favorite mmo's was/is dark age of camelot..... and i stayed long after it "died", and even went back with an average pop on my server of 300, and enjoyed it for a while)





edit: and now, its time for me to head to bed, so i'll respond to any more (hopefully lots) suggestions when i wake up, then re-read this thread, make myself a list, and start some playing. hope to find that gem that'll keep me occupied and entertained for more than a few days :)

Playing games 16 hours a day is not good for a person. And no kind of entertainment can fill that much of a human life. Not a flaw in the entertainment, just how humans are made. It also is making you less if a care giver than you could be. You have an opportunity to be a source of comfort, joy, and companionship for someone. Don't squander it.

laid down for a bit, thought i heard a call so got up, wasnt a call, was just sleep-noises, so decided to check thread on my way back..... see this post, feel the need to respond.

regardless how its intended to be read, i read it as an attack, so response written in defense:

for further context: the disabled veteran i care for is my father, and i am here after quitting a job driving a bigrig for 10x what i make here, because i love my father, and he needed me. his other caregivers (including two other of his adult children who also live here) werent giving care. i also didnt say 16 hours a day, i said 16 hours a day with frequent yet short afk's..... which probably equates to twelve hours, and who is to say i play these games alone? in actuality, they provide fuel for unsquandered sources of comfort and joy in providing scenarios to discuss in a "what if" fashion, much like many people do with much less interactive movies. "What would you do in this scenario? how would you react to this?" (note preference for survival/apocalyptic) alongside at times actually playing together at certain times. i play, he directs actions, directions, dialog choices, etcetera.

it is both entertainment for me, as well as enjoyable conversation fuel for him/us. and i do not believe my lack of finding good entertaining games is narrowed to time spent, as this problem has been prevalent for a great many years, among which ones where i had more restrictive jobs, and ones all the way down to only 2 hours a day of playtime. i believe the lack of entertainment is due to a lack of immersion, brought upon by the lack of options: in real life, i would have many more options, and being the person who thinks about games in the context of "what if i was in this situation" i am consistently reminded of its limitations, and on another hand: a level of intelligence that isnt challenged by the trend towards easier / simpler games, and on a third hand...... meh, i lost my train of thought. blame being tired, i'll edit it in if i think of it again before i actually get to sleep.

But as indicated in the first page of posts, games do exist which engage me for days (sometimes weeks, even at this amount of playtime), but the ones i know of, i've played out.... knowing these types with "more" do exist, im asking for the ones i dont know about (which have been presented as well)

.
.
You mean like Baby Sitting the elderly?

Not that I'm making fun of that kind of charity

but If you're refering to time better spent with a romantic interest
the competition is fierce so few people appreciate that company,
Nowadays people bounce from prospect to prospect on weekly basis
spreading VD and creating unwanted children which tie down and emotionally
cripple young people who would have otherwise had the time to learn something
and become more than just a menial laborer the rest of their lives crying that even
though they pay for thier child they never get to see them

Nothing arrests development and clips heels at the starting line to success like purchasing a car
or starting a relationship - both replace a small and critical window of time with debt & drama

You want more of everything, you say? Something that feels like way too much for most players: https://www.gog.com/game/x3_terran_war_pack They also have small tweaking mods in droves and several total conversion mods too.

I was just thinking of X. I think I've played X3:TWP for four hours and I'm still in the tutorials! Complexity? Oh yeah. In spades.

Also curious whether OP has tried The Secret World MMO. Worth taking a look because it's a) modern-day; b) the storyline/writing is absolutely fascinating (and there are genuine puzzles to work out); c) it's well-designed for solo-mmo play.

There's some merit to this, even though it's an MMO. Besides being an amazing game, it might be a very solid choice for the "playing together" portions. Very strong writing and voice acting in the cutscenes and plenty of genuinely interesting quests. One of the few games I probably wouldn't mind backseating.

Creeper World 3?

Borderlands 1+2?

Sorry, but I can't resist.

Two more kinds of more :

Saints Row is "more the series". In the sense "more over-the-top-ness because last time we weren't far enough over the top". It's not necessarily more in "game time", but more in "turned to eleven and way beyond".

Just Cause is more more, in the sense "oh you thought you've completed the map ? you've just completed 0,00001% of it mate". It's simply geographically huge. No, not necessarily more in "game content" (it gets repetitive, so you can get a feeling of been there done that after a while, and a yawn realising that you've completed an infinitesimal portion of it yet), but more in a sheer brute number of places to visits and targets to blow up. So, if you like the pew pew kaboom gameplay, be happy, it's not over soon.

Sounds to me like you should check out "Caves of Qud"!