I think that oftentimes the quote is used to really mean:

“The game plays *better* with experience.”

The first play of a game can often seem longer and somewhat painful as rules are clarified, critical mistakes are unknowingly made, and various potential moves are discussed aloud by the newcomers to the game (or by the folks helping out the newcomers). My first games of relatively long games like E&T, Age of Steam, and Caylus were fairly long drawn out games, without me really having a sense for what was going on in those games until halfway through (or in the case of E&T, after) the game. Taking Caylus as an example, the first dozen or so games were almost always played with someone new to the game, and took close to 3 hours, yet they were very enjoyable. Playing Caylus now is a little faster (still usually 2 hours), but that’s not really the issue...it’s better than it was the first time. Tempus had the opposite effect: the 2nd play of the game convinced me that this just wasn’t my kind of game, even though it went faster (and I won...hee hee).

On a related note, the whole idea that length is bad is a curious issue. I tend to shy away from games that have a stated time of more than 2 hours, in part because if I really don’t like the game early on, I’m committed to a lot of time to continue playing it. But other than that, I usually spend 4-5 hours at minimum at a gaming session, so should it matter that all of that time is one game if I’m enjoying myself? I stopped tracking my games played on BGG for several months, thinking that I was giving myself some sort of artificial pressure to play more games, but that didn’t change my gaming preferences at all (and I spent an awful lot of time trying to recreate my games played list when I realized that, yuck).

Given the choice of learning a new game, everything else being equal, I will always pick the shorter game.

I played two games yesterday, Canalmania and Tempus that are both running about two hours, about a half-hour longer than I’d like. I think, in time, Canalmania will speed up as people learn the map and the routes, I think Tempus will slow down as players start realizing all their options, so it really depends on the type of game (and players, of course).

A very good point, but I often include the rules explanation in the time it takes to play a game.  After everyone knows how to play, you save 5 to 30 minutes right there.

This usually makes sense to me as we have a limited time to play a game and I need to find a game that will fit within that timeframe - rather than the more nebulous measurement of how much time people are willing to put forth on a particular game.

I shy away from anything longer than 2 hours since most of my gaming sessions are weeknights and thus cap out at about 3 hours (typically 7-10pm Mondays).  I know that anything longer than a 2 hour game will just be very hard to bring to the table.

All that said, I still like some longer games, just don’t get to play them much.

Look before you leap, he who hesitates is lost.

Both true, but not at the same time.

Likewise this and its opposite.

I did recently play in an about 30 minute game of Puerto Rico. From shrinkwrap. Experience certainly helped there.

Not playing with a new person to the game is an experience that doesn’t occur for me often.  Many of our group (and me chief among them) love trying new games.

When we do play a game without going through the rules, it can lead to completely different feelings about a game.  For example, I’d written off Power Grid as a game that I enjoy, but last week, someone wanted to try it.  Four of us sat down and we had to clarify the trigger points for the phases, but otherwise we jumped in and played.  It’s not in my top ten, but I do enjoy the game.

As far as playing faster with experienced, I am a believer in this adage.  Looking up stuff in the rules seems quick, but if you do it once a round, it adds up.  I understand your point that players may think longer about strategies once they have a handle on the mechanics.  However, the groups with whom I play tend to at least try to exercise strategy even when playing for the first time as opposed to “let’s just move here and see what happens.” (I move stuff or try different actions just to see what happens, but many of my group won’t.