What level of detail should there be in gameplay?
Too much detail might feel bothersome; i.e. if you’d have to brush your character’s teeth three times a day, put on gloves in cold weather, make sure you’ve got enough drinking water, and maybe even have to urinate/defecate, you’d spend most of your gaming time with doing things that aren’t particularly exciting. Sure, integrating them might make the whole game feel more real, and possibly enhance your identification with your character. (E.g., after having fed and groomed and cared for your character for several weeks, you’d probably feel much stronger about receiving a severe wound during a battle.) But I still think too much compulsory detail would be a hassle for most players, and excluding irrelevant minor everyday activities from gameplay gives you more time and capacity to focus on plot and game world, which are more exciting.
