I've been putting off this decision because I feel like I have great ideas for both but most of them are mutually exclusive to one way or the other on this decision. I'm getting to a point in my programming where I kind of have to make the decision and I'm just curious if people out there have a preference on the matter.

My game is an RPG for the most part. It has a story, questing, etc. For the purposes of this discussion feel free to think of it like final fantasy.

If I choose to have an extensive post game:

I'll have lots of additional quests, dungeons, loot, etc. Essentially the game will continue on as before, just without a main story to focus around. I envision secret areas, more exploration, etc.

If I choose to have a new game+:

I really really like the idea of allowing the player to play through the story again from the point of view of another character. I even thought I could chain together a story that is only really complete after having played through it several times with different main characters. On the downside, some content would overlap, but there would be unique content in each playthrough, and I would also come up with a way to carry over something significant from previous playthroughs.

So what do you all think?

• "Post game path" seems to result in a more modular game, which you could earn more money on for a longer time, if it becomes popular. It also seems as most of the content creation would be done after the game is released. This means a long term dedication to the project.
• "New Game+" seems like a very large work load until release date (more crunching?) since you would have to finish more content until that point. Once the game is finished it would also be the end of the project (more or less).

So my question back to you is: how long are you expecting to support this game?

My own preference would be the "Post game path" since exploration is always fun. The main quest, once you have completed it once, is quite boring. Even if the character who experiences it is a different.

Those are definitely good points and I was leaning in that direction already. I think for me a lot of it comes down to how I want to market and sell it... Do I want a as big a market as possible (in which case the choice is clear), or do I want to make the pretty hardcore type of game that I myself enjoy? The ps2 game Romancing saga is one of my all time favorites (even though it didn't sell well or get particularly good reviews) and one of the reasons I like it is that it had the whole complete the game again with a different character thing as a primary feature. You would be stronger in successive playthroughs and would have the opportunity to do more and more things each time through. It also makes having "missable" content a lot easier to bear. I mean I really want to have some meaningful storyline choices as well, the sort where you can go to town A and meet Character B, or you can go to Town C and meet character D, but not both. It makes the content you do experience more meaningful because its your game.

Anyway, thanks for the input, I haven't decided yet.