Perhaps in the second book it might be possible to show how long the character has played rather than (or in addition to) how long the user has played.
Although it is interesting to note how long I have been "on-line," so to speak with a character, that total time fails to account for me leaving the computer to get dinner ready or get the kids in bed, adding "empty" time.
If the character time was used, it could be based on elapsed rounds or turns, for example, and expressed in game-days and game-hours. So if there was no keyboard or mouse input (e.g., no game time passes) then even if I am away for an hour to fix dinner then the character play time remains the same.
This feature could have implications for quests, so that characters must accomplish a task in a limited but knowable time, or if they are told to come back in 3 days, or creating a potion or something takes 36 hours, etc. It would also have implications for resting, especially if a player chooses to rest excessively they might not be able to fulfill a task in a given time frame, so would need to adjust their playing style accordingly.
It would also be interesting to see how fast, again in game time, one can finish the game.
Game Play Time
Re: Game Play Time
Nice suggestion, should go to the wish list