I just saw this tweet and it's not the first time I see this take. People ask the same thing about why replayability is important, it aint like nobody got time to play the game more than once anyway, amirite?
As a comparison, Steam thinks I've put around 400 hours into RimWorld. Probably a bit of an overestimation, I tend to leave it paused a lot while I do other things. But as a number it's on the same scale as the tweet.
A RimWorld session does not take 400 hours to complete. I mean I've never beaten RimWorld! π But usually I play for anything from 5 to 50 hours, and every time it's a different experience.
That's the thing with sufficiently complex, deep, or varied games. If you can play through it once over the course of say, ten hours, then you can play it again and it'll feel new. This is one important aspect of games supporting long playtimes.
But - I hear ya! You don't want to play more than five or ten hours before moving on to the next game? The game's longevity, or replayability, still helps!
An RPG without replayability would be very much like a point-and-click adventure game. Beginning, middle, end, not much choice inbetween. And that's great, I love point-and-clicks π
But... When I play RimWorld or Fallout, I know that I can make choices that will change the game, change my experience. My approach matters, my played experience won't be like my friend's. Even if I only play it through once, the fact that I can see a choice, and make it, and know that I could have picked the other choice, matters!
And yes... my RPG The Elvengroin Legacy πΉ will be quite replayable! π