History Main / OverlyGenerousTimeLimit

Remaining time: 09:55:22

* ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'', under its classic rules, allowed contestants essentially unlimited time to answer questions, barring the hard limit of filming schedules. Given it was a multiple choice show where the answer is literally staring them in the face, this was divisive amongst viewers who either enjoyed the fairness of the game or criticized the series's slow pacing and teasing when final answers were locked, compared to a rapid-fire, direct responses only quiz show like ''{{Series/Jeopardy}}''. After some contestants essentially abused this and spent ''over 50 minutes on one question'' in some cases, the series changed the rules to implement 15-45 second timer for a long period. This was divisive however, as many of the fans of the show who stuck with it past the early peak of its popularity with Chris Tarrant in the original UK series, or past Regis Philbin's tenure in the US adaption, did so because the series was slow, and it failed to attract audiences of more rapid-fire shows like ''Jeopardy'' or ''[[{{Series/WeakestLink}} Weakest Link]]''. The revivals with Jeremy Clarkson and Jimmy Kimmel have reverted to a superficially unlimited time allowance for giving a final answer.

In games with [[ScoringPoints scoring systems]], such a timer may be used to award the player a bonus for remaining time, [[SpeedrunReward encouraging fast play]] in a way that doesn't inflate the difficulty players who don't play for speed.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'': Zigzagged. Whenever there is a timed quest, it is always due in several in-game days, sometimes even weeks. For example, Kivan in the ''Enhanced Edition'' will ask you to kill Tazok in the bandit camp in 7-14-20 days (depending on if you recruit him in chapter 3, 2 or 1). Getting to the bandit camp from his location, High Edge, takes at most 2 days [note]technically travelling between the two areas only takes 28 hours passing through the site north of the Friendly Arm Inn, 36 if you pass through Peldvale[/note]. The same time is roughly required to get from High Edge to the Nashkel Mines, which you need to clear in chapter 2 before unlocking the camp for chapter 3. You have plenty of time to do anything else in-between. However, if you go exploring wilderness areas far from the main road, such as those near the mountains, travel times become long and you might run out of time if you forget about your quest. Luckily, characters will remind you when it is expiring.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'': Zigzagged. Whenever there is a timed quest, it is always due in several in-game days, sometimes even weeks. For example, Kivan in the ''Enhanced Edition'' will ask you to kill Tazok in the bandit camp in 7-14-20 days (depending on if you recruit him in chapter 3, 2 or 1). Getting to the bandit camp from his location, High Edge, takes at most 2 days [[note:technically travelling between the two areas only takes 28 hours passing through the site north of the Friendly Arm Inn, 36 if you pass through Peldvale]]. The same time is roughly required to get from High Edge to the Nashkel Mines, which you need to clear in chapter 2 before unlocking the camp for chapter 3. You have plenty of time to do anything else in-between. However, if you go exploring wilderness areas far from the main road, such as those near the mountains, travel times become long and you might run out of time if you forget about your quest. Luckily, characters will remind you when it is expiring.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'': Whenever there is a timed quest, it is always due in several in-game days, sometimes even weeks. For example, Kivan in the ''Enhanced Edition'' will ask you to kill Tazok in the bandit camp in at least 7 (if you recruit him in chapter 3 when the camp becomes available) to at most 20 (if you recruit him in chapter 1) days. Getting to the bandit camp from his location, High Edge, takes at most 2 days, technically the direct travel between the two areas only takes 28 hours passing through the site north of the Friendly Arm Inn. The same time is roughly required to get from High Edge to the Nashkel Mines, which you need to clear before unlocking the camp. You have plenty of time to do anything else in-between. However, if you go exploring wilderness areas far from the main road, travel times become long, making this trope zigzagged.

* The classic ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games required you to get through each level in every zone in 10 minutes or less, which is easily double what even the least experienced player would require, if not more (assuming that badniks or hazards don't do the job first). The timer actually counts ''up'' from zero and gives no indication that anything will happen when you reach ten minutes, unlike the ''Mario'' games, with ''far'' less generous timers that count ''down'' to zero.

** In most of the classic Sonic games this played straight, with 10:00 being the time limit and most acts taking 2-4 minutes at most. A few levels avert this hard, however (Carnival Night act 2 and Sandopolis act 1-2 from Sonic 3 and Knuckles being the most infamous)

* ''VideoGame/{{Minesweeper}}'' has a timer. When it reaches 999, nothing actually happens. To quote the RealTrailerFakeMovie:

[[/folder]]

* The classic ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games required you to get through each level in every zone in 10 minutes or less, which is easily double what even the least experienced player would require, if not more (assuming that badniks or hazards don't do the job first). The timer actually counts ''up'' to zero and gives no indication that anything will happen when you reach ten minutes, unlike the ''Mario'' games, with ''far'' less generous timers that count ''down'' to zero.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'': The first mission Squall takes can have a time limit of up to 40 minutes but can easily be completed in 8 or less.
** Subtly subverted. You are advised to "Select a time limit. Choose one suited to your abilities. Challenging yet reasonable." The game never makes it obvious but the mission is considered part of an exam, and your marks are higher the less time you have remaining when you finish it, regardless of the time limit you chose. Beat the boss with under 7 seconds to spare for top marks.

* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' games traditionally give the player a 50-minute time limit for most quests. Whether the time limit is trope tends to vary; on offline single-player quests and when hunting online with a full party, quests are often over before the timer is even halfway depleted, taking maybe 10-15 minutes tops. However, should a player decide to solo a quest tailored for multiplayer, the player may find themselves in a legitimate race against the clock, especially if they choose to take on an endgame-tier monster.

* The Speedy Comets in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' generally give far more time than even the least experienced player would need. The intense music and ominous red filter over the screen suggest urgency, but the player can often let Mario sleep for a few minutes before grabbing the Star. Unsurprisingly, [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 the sequel]] would rework these particular comets to be more difficult.

* Happens in one crucial point in ''VideoGame/{{Iconoclasts}}'': [[spoiler:Robin and Royal must escape a decompressing base on the moon after their messy run-in with the Starworm, and unfortunately said encounter has left Royal a catatonic deadweight. You are given three and a half minutes to escape, which is ''far more than you need''... except that no matter how much you try, you can ''not'' bring Royal because of a barrier that requires you to leave him behind to his doom, making this time limit more of a psychological torture of trying to find a way to save him and failing.]]

* Happens in one crucial point in ''VideoGame/Iconoclasts'': [[spoiler:Robin and Royal must escape a decompressing base on the moon after their messy run-in with the Starworm, and unfortunately said encounter has left Royal a catatonic deadweight. You are given three and a half minutes to escape, which is ''far more than you need''... except that no matter how much you try, you can ''not'' bring Royal because of a barrier that requires you to leave him behind to his doom, making this time limit more of a psychological torture of trying to find a way to save him and failing.]]

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2: Arrival'' becomes a timed mission after a certain point, with 90 minutes to complete the mission before the Reapers arrive. Unless you deliberately run out the timer to see what happens, it's not a concern.

* ''VideoGame/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie'' tie-in game has time challenges on each of the driving and sliding stages, with timers so generous that you'll finish each one with several minutes to spare. In the later levels, you're far more likely to die from the obstacles on the track than you are to come anywhere close to running out of time. The Macho time challenges afterwards, however, are quite a bit harder.

* ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry1InTheLandOfTheLoungeLizards'' technically has a time limit, but it is ''eight hours'' and a midgame event will cancel it. Again, restoring an earlier save also restores the clock. The game doesn't even tell the player that there's a time limit, so you'd basically need to open the source code to find out. Specifically, the game starts at 10 PM, and if the main character is still a virgin at 6 AM, he'll kill himself.