I'm just wondering what specifically is being counted in the "hours played" statistics.

Is that for all the time the game is running, regardless of whether you are actively playing (having quit the game)?

Or is it only the hours in which you are actively playing the game (or at least you have it up and running on your computer)?

I think it is when the game is on - you aren't really "playing" when the game is off, but then again I could be wrong

Since one of the main features of our games is that time continues to pass, even when the game is off, the "Hours Played" statistic includes the time that the game is off, as well as when you're playing it. It does not consider game speed or time that the game has been paused. It will also be wrong if the computer's system clock has been adjusted for any reason. It's essentially nothing more that a display of how many hours it's been since you first created that tribe, based on your computer's system clock.

Thanks, Barbara. That's what I had hoped because when I noticed how many hours played for on my two tribes, I thought it was time for me to get a life! I was thinking that could be how many hours of my life I had spent actively playing with my villagers.

Having it be a 24 clock (I don't turn my computer off) is so much better. It merely says how long ago I began that tribe. Or, maybe better stated, it is the age of your tribe in real hours with the exception of when the computer is turned off (time travel blows everything so I don't even consider it).

Uh, correction. Turning your computer off doesn't matter. Rereading your post, I realized that it's using the computer's clock for it's count. Therefore, as long as the computer's clock remains on time, ALL of the hours are counted, even when your computer is completely turned off and unplugged!

Yes, that's exactly right.

Gr8 question Complexity I was wondering that myself

Thanks, VVFanatic. This also explains why "time travel" by changing the time on your computer is so risky. Everything for VV2 (and VV1, as well, I bet) is based on the computer's clock. That's why it runs even when you're not playing it. If a person changes their computer clock, the entire game is changed with it. So when that person changes their computer clock again, backwards, it throws everything into a mess. How do you subtract time?

It's clear that it's all based on a mathematical equation, using the computer's clock as an integral part of that equation. Changing the clock forward makes that equation spit out very high numbers, radically changing the game (a villager 70 years old may suddenly "age" to 100; therefore, dying, while there were no new babies during that "time").

But the real problem is when the computer clock is moved backwards. Then the equation spits out negative numbers. How can a child 5 years old suddenly be -3 years old? Not possible. You can't undo a birth. I have no idea what happens under those circumstances (I don't play with my computer clock), but the end result would surely be undesirable in the long run.

It all makes sense to me now.