Most annoying non-obvious things in modern gaming

[Norfleet]

-I hate that white jizz they put in places where you're supposed to climb/interact. I'm not fucking retarded, let me find it on my own.

It's acceptable when you can toggle it off/on. Otherwise I suppose they do it to disguise the fact they were unable or lazy to put assets that can be clearly distinguishable from others. retarded art direction

It's a direct consequence of modern gaming's signal-to-noise ratio. In an OLD game, if you saw a thing, it was probably a thing you were meant to interact with that did something. In a modern MORE GRAPHICS game, most of what you see is little more than graphical clutter, having no interactable functionality, and it becomes increasingly difficult to sort out what you can actually do anything with from something that just exists to take up screenspace. Thus there is a widening gap between "things you can see" and "things that are actually part of the game", and thus glowies are used to mark interactables from worldspace clutter. Otherwise it would be deeply frustrating trying to interact with things that LOOK like you should logically be able to do something with, only to find that you can't, and there's no explanation of why.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

-When a tutorial says "Use X to do Y" and it won't allow you to not do X, or the game otherwise fails to proceed unless you follow the instructions exactly

-When a tutorial involves forced death or expenditure of resources. "Oh whoops looks like you dieded, here's how you revive" or "looks like this is a tough enemy, use your NUCLEAR BOMB we put in your inventory to instantly win." fuck you let me play.

-Returning to questgivers to get rewards for rote or non-story based quests (e.g. bounty hunts-- I don't need a trip back to town and meaningless blather to turn in my goblin ears)

-Meaningless checklists (e.g. you picked up 17 crochet needles, here's some gold)

-Mine levels. They're fucking gay.

 

[Norfleet]

-When a tutorial involves forced death or expenditure of resources. "Oh whoops looks like you dieded, here's how you revive" or "looks like this is a tough enemy, use your NUCLEAR BOMB we put in your inventory to instantly win." fuck you let me play.

It's especially irritating in an MMO when the item in question is a premium item so now you're obliged to try to figure out how to escape and keep it.

But in general, most tutorials are annoying as they spend lengthy amounts of time boring you with unskippable crap for people who apparently don't know how to play a vidya, and then never get around to explaining how THIS particular vidya works.

Really, a good tutorial should split itself into 3 kinds of category, with a skip-out if you're not in that category:

1. How do I play vidya? (People who apparently don't know how to just start pressing buttons belong here)

2. How do I play this TYPE of vidya? (People who know how to mash butan, but have never played this particular genre go here)

3. How do I play this specific vidya, as distinct from every other vidya of this genre? (Genre veterans go here)

 

[Maxie]

text crawl

 

[Higher Animal]

-I hate how everything moves so quickly into metas, memes, opinions, and spoilers. It’s good for research purposes but having easy access to information can reduce the feeling of surprise. It’s always been true that you can spoil a game by using the internet or cheat codes or friends but that was more limited in the past and harder to access so things felt more interesting when they were discovered. Now people have 50+ hour videos and guides available within days and it becomes difficult to have a more personal experience. This is also the fault of the person looking up information, but in the past that felt more like a quest than a detailed explanation it does now.

-I hate gating. The idea that you need a manifold of passwords, services, purchases, and official technologies rather than plug and play devices that you can enable to play a game is pretty bad. Also things like paying for internet services, and consciously limited user modification, replication, and sharing. Things like standard voice chat protocols, trophies and achievement, always accessible friendlists, things made for “convenience” that alter scopes of projects.
- The eventual decline of more bespoke and open ended technology platforms in favor of standardized super computers delivering those same gated experiences as Taco Bell delivery quality games guided by a few major firms.
- Consolidation of gaming into well worn psychological tricks that increase addiction, dependency, and rote feedback loops rather than explorations of sensations and themes and more innocent attempts at fun.
- The sheer monstrosity of workplace abuse and environmental harm caused by the technology industry more generally.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Another one I just recalled-- when player level is used in raw damage calculations (e.g. Witcher 3). If I gain a level, gain no visible stats, and do not change equipment, my damage should not magically increase vs. lower level foes, nor should higher level foes suddenly do less damage to me without a commensurate defense boost.

It's a stupid mechanic borrowed from MMOs, where it was implemented to prevent people from skipping the grind. IMO has no place in single player games and represents a design crutch, and generally obviates all other build and character options.

 

[ds]

Really, a good tutorial should split itself into 3 kinds of category, with a skip-out if you're not in that category:

1. How do I play vidya? (People who apparently don't know how to just start pressing buttons belong here)

2. How do I play this TYPE of vidya? (People who know how to mash butan, but have never played this particular genre go here)

3. How do I play this specific vidya, as distinct from every other vidya of this genre? (Genre veterans go here)

Explicit tutorial sections or popups about what you need to do are just a failure to make the controls and interface itself discoverable or bad pacing that doesn't give the player enough space to figure things out.

Don't tell me to press I to open the inventory, have an inventory icon with the shortcut in the tooltip and a configuration screen that gives a good overview of the available keybinds. Don't explain hard counters to me, give readable feedback if my shit doesn't do damage. In-game encyclopedias / references that I can peruse when needed are much preferable to up front info - extra credits if they are actually integrated in the game world. If you must start the game with action then limit complexity at first and expand it as the player progresses.

I really don't think every game needs to accommodate complete newbies to the genre either - it's not like the internet isn't full of people showing how to play whatever game you can imagine.

Now to progress this thread enter your response below and click "Post reply".

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

Pretty much all mini games. I hate playing a game then having to stop to play some inferior piece of shit hacking or card game that could be designed for a cell phone. People need to hate them more yet I hear a lot of buck tooth faggots saying they are very fun.

 

[Blutwurstritter]

Cargo-cult UI design without any personality and flavor. Pop-up damage numbers especially in shooters. And generally UI elements, prompts and information that is not necessary to be on-screen all the time or at all.
But my main disappointment is the stagnation of new ideas and the creative bankruptcy of large developers that actually have the resources to take a risk, that could try to push some boundaries. There are too many games sticking to conventions without breaking the mold in any meaningful and entertaining way. It seems that most efforts are spent on modern monetization schemes and hunting/copying current best-selling trends.

 

[luj1]

People need to hate them more yet I hear a lot of buck tooth faggots saying they are very fun.

these people are the reason we have decline

give devs a free pass and we all get fucked over

tbh people need to hate decline more

 

[asfasdf]

When characters start moving after a delay when you command them to move.

Mushy, unresponsive controls isn't SPECIFICALLY a modern-game thing, but the increasing use of animations in games has definitely made it worse, and is frequently the cause of this, as the character is stuck in a canned animation loop that can't be aborted, blended, or otherwise stopped.

It seems more prevalent these days. You click on a tab to focus elsewhere, the camera moves slowly there instead of simply teleporting to the position. You drag the map, it accelerates to dragging then slowly decelerates until it stops. Retarded art people love the transition animations and other retarded stuff that only gets in the way, UI has to respond immediately to whatever you do, not do some fancy pointless thing.

 

[pickmeister]

Another one I just recalled-- when player level is used in raw damage calculations (e.g. Witcher 3). If I gain a level, gain no visible stats, and do not change equipment, my damage should not magically increase vs. lower level foes, nor should higher level foes suddenly do less damage to me without a commensurate defense boost.

It's a stupid mechanic borrowed from MMOs, where it was implemented to prevent people from skipping the grind. IMO has no place in single player games and represents a design crutch, and generally obviates all other build and character options.

I remember playing WoW on a shitty private server and I felt like a fucking god after I managed to tickle a 30 lvl bear to death as an 18 lvl scrub because this exact mechanic did not work there.

Playing a few months later on an official server was so disappointing. Couldn't even kill a mob 3 levels above me.

 

[Norfleet]

They do that specifically to punish players who gear well and then try to farm better yields on higher-level enemies, becauase that would be playing the game wrong.

 

[Great Deceiver]

-I hate how everything moves so quickly into metas, memes, opinions, and spoilers. It’s good for research purposes but having easy access to information can reduce the feeling of surprise. It’s always been true that you can spoil a game by using the internet or cheat codes or friends but that was more limited in the past and harder to access so things felt more interesting when they were discovered. Now people have 50+ hour videos and guides available within days and it becomes difficult to have a more personal experience. This is also the fault of the person looking up information, but in the past that felt more like a quest than a detailed explanation it does now.

-I hate gating. The idea that you need a manifold of passwords, services, purchases, and official technologies rather than plug and play devices that you can enable to play a game is pretty bad. Also things like paying for internet services, and consciously limited user modification, replication, and sharing. Things like standard voice chat protocols, trophies and achievement, always accessible friendlists, things made for “convenience” that alter scopes of projects.
- The eventual decline of more bespoke and open ended technology platforms in favor of standardized super computers delivering those same gated experiences as Taco Bell delivery quality games guided by a few major firms.
- Consolidation of gaming into well worn psychological tricks that increase addiction, dependency, and rote feedback loops rather than explorations of sensations and themes and more innocent attempts at fun.
- The sheer monstrosity of workplace abuse and environmental harm caused by the technology industry more generally.

I was ready to brofist until this last line, then my dick shrivelled and I had to brolapse

 

[Ol' Willy]

Another thing is fucking pseudo-realism chores added to many modern games. Find water, find food, cook it, etc. Do I need to wash dishes and take shit as well?

 

[Ravielsk]

Do I need to wash dishes and take shit as well?

No, that will be exclusive content added in the "Shit and Piss™" DLC that will launch 3 to 4 years after the game's release as outlined in the roadmap™.

 

[Star Citizen]

For someone who enjoys a wide variety of games across every genre, casual to hardcore, there's nothing that grates me more than this contemporary writing style/tone which seemingly every modern game/film/show has. I can look past the most glaring flaws in a game if I feel there's something in it worth experiencing but cringe dialogue and horribly unlikable lead characters and NPCs I can't stomach.

 

[PapaPetro]

Another thing is fucking pseudo-realism chores added to many modern games. Find water, find food, cook it, etc. Do I need to wash dishes and take shit as well?

Avoid CDDA.
Soon they'll program having to take a piss properly every 15 in-game minutes as "content".

 

[garren]

Looting something and having to wait for the container opening animation to finish before I get the loot screen. Repeat 10000 times and yeah it gets old. Or having a slow fadeout animation when you enter or exit a scharacter/loot screen/whatever (witcher 3 ).

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Do I need to wash dishes and take shit as well?

To be fair, the act of playing a modern game is already highly analogous to taking a shit.

 

[Johannes]

you can easily go through life as a guy without ever having a gay guy come on to you

If you ever go out in a city that's not true


annoying things in modern life

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

I guess it depends on how you look. With me, gay men stay away from me just like women and animals. AI remains to be seen.

 

[Vic]

achievements baked into games

collectibles like find the 50 scraps of paper in random/hidden locations

characters put into the game so minorities and women can identify with them. Just make a game for girls where you fight with pillows and ride on unicorns and keep that strong wymyn crap out of my games.

 

[Johannes]

achievements baked into games

collectibles like find the 50 scraps of paper in random/hidden locations

characters put into the game so minorities and women can identify with them. Just make a game for girls where you fight with pillows and ride on unicorns and keep that strong wymyn crap out of my games.

Strong independent wymyn are there for the male nerd to identify with or to idolize.

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Pretty obvious but "smooth" UI/menu

Spoiler

GHEY