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Topic: Gaming's pet peeves

Posts 341 to 360 of 513

nessisonett

@Th3solution That was my only gripe with Guardians of the Galaxy! Usually there were two paths where one had a secret and the other went to the next cutscene. I was really bad at picking 😂

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

RogerRoger

@Th3solution [nods aggressively] Coming to an area with multiple branching paths in a game fills me with a special sort of anxiety. It's like, okay, exploration is often the entire point of why I'm there, but then the fear of having that exploration curtailed by turning left instead of right can cause me to stall, and can occasionally undercut my enjoyment if it's particularly egregious.

Sometimes I'm okay, because I'm somebody who doesn't mind replaying old favourites, so I know I'll get the chance to see what was behind door number two, but there's nothing worse than reading about a game you've finished and seeing that you missed out on something cool.

And the worst thing is, I reckon my luck's always been staunchly 50/50 on this issue. If I got lucky more often, I'd probably be a bit more cavalier about picking a path.

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

Milktastrophe

It's worst when you go 5 minutes down a path and think, ok this is definitely the way to advance the story. So you head back to the other branch and it immediately plays a cutscene locking you out of the long side path.

Milktastrophe

KilloWertz

My biggest gaming pet peeve would be running into people with the name @Milktastrophe...

Seriously though, I do hate that happening where you are given multiple paths and one of them ends up advancing the game when you were just trying to explore/do something else. It unfortunately happens in almost every open world game. While it doesn't always annoy me, it would be nice not to wonder if you took the "wrong" path so to speak, and not because you are going to run into a hard opponent.

PSN ID/Xbox Live Gamertag: KilloWertz
Switch Friend Code: SW-6448-2688-7386

RogerRoger

No doubt it's been mentioned plenty of times in this topic already, but after playing a predominantly online game for a few days, I've rediscovered the delights (hint: sarcasm) of participants who rage-quit when a match isn't going their way. It's just heckin' rude. Penalties for such behaviour should be universal across all online gaming platforms, and mandatory in all online multiplayer games, heavily impacting both in-game content and broader access to the underlying service for offenders.

Also, on a separate but semi-related note, I recently received two abusive PSN messages. Not for the quality of my gameplay (which fluctuates wildly) but rather for using some overly-flamboyant dance emotes with my male avatar whilst waiting for matches to get underway. I didn't target any other players with said dances; I was just standing around, scrolling through and triggering all of the emotes out of curiosity, as I had nothing else to do whilst a pre-match timer ticked away. It's reassuring to know that toxicity is still rife enough to allow such fleeting moments to generate such a vile response.

Again with the sarcasm, by the way.

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

nessisonett

@RogerRoger The toxicity is out of control across the entire PSN ecosystem. It’s not unique to any single game, it’s just universal. Not surprised that something as innocuous as a slight show of flamboyancy is enough for those sorts to send abuse, what surprises me is how anybody could possibly go out of their way to be that mean for no reason. Like it’s not as if you can message somebody with one or two button presses, it’s fairly time-consuming especially typing with the controller. I know some will think you’re overreacting or should just ignore it but I don’t agree. The more we talk about just how bad it is for people that show the slightest hint of ‘otherness’ then hopefully those who scrape by without any sort of targeted abuse will take notice.

Plumbing’s just Lego innit. Water Lego.

Trans rights are human rights.

Th3solution

@RogerRoger @nessisonett I’m with you. In general I’m really put off by the multiplayer ecosystem and I’m sorry to hear how shamefully small-minded the other players were to you. I’ve not been in an online MP lobby for years because I feel so uncomfortable there. For me it’s the constant trash talk and abusive comments for those of us who don’t spend our entire frickin’ lives playing the game 24/7.

Edited on by Th3solution

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

RogerRoger

@nessisonett @Th3solution Cheers, lads. Weirdly enough, if the messages had been "Your crap skills cost us that last match, you *******!" then yeah, it still would've been deeply wrong, but it also would've been kinda understandable on a human behavioural level. I've had those kinds of messages before, and in those instances I've replied with carefully-constructed, overly-humble apologies, which never fails to generate an "Oh **** you're really nice, sorry, I feel bad now!" response and I consider the matter closed.

The fact that this was a different, more personal kind of attack, and that it happened (twice!!) in an anime game, in which everybody's avatars frequently flounce around in pink wigs and fox tails already anyway, made it feel much more targeted. I reported them, of course, but just got those automated "thanks, we've taken appropriate action" replies from PSN, so I've no idea what happened to them.

Well, at least they picked on me, and not some ten-year-old kid. I'm not 100% bulletproof, but this ain't gonna make me question my life choices or anything.

If anything, it makes me wanna stand in the game's lobby triggering those dance emotes all day!

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

HeavyMetalWario64DS

Speaking of issues with online players, one thing I've found really annoying lately is hackers. I started replaying Pokemon Sun only to find out that someone has hacked the GTS (Global Trade System) for all 3DS games so much that the game freezes when you look at one of their hacked Pokemon they have for trade. I've even heard reports of people being unable to connect to the GTS after words at all, or even corrupting the game so bad that starting a new save isn't possible.

The hacking has gotten so bad that for any Pokemon game, including the Switch ones, I don't trust anything good I get in a trade unless I know the person IRL and know that they got the Pokemon legitimately. While the newer hacks don't freeze the game, I could get banned for having them even if I didn't knowingly get them. I had to erase a save once because someone traded me a Shiny Legendary that was impossible to be shiny and it showed the shiny form in the Pokedex (on the game, but the Pokedex entry would have been uploaded to Pokemon Bank next time I connected, possibly resulting in a ban) when I got it. Basically The Pokemon Company's stance on hacks is that if it's on your game, you're guilty, even if you traded for it. It's was an automatic DQ for Seniors and Masters (age 10+ roughly), but Juniors (age <10) were allowed to replace the Pokemon, last time I checked the rules. Judges have been recommending people only use their Pokemon, and not traded ones due to this.
Unfortunately, most hacks don't get detected right away so people keep doing it, and some say it's required to be competitive. The Pokemon Company really needs to do something about this, like having a program scan the whole game/console for hacking (not just the Party) at tournaments, and checking Pokemon deposited in Pokemon Home and flagging hacks making them unusable online.

I've also had problems with playing any Call of Duty from the X360/PS3 era. I got hacked so bad in CoD 4 Modern Warfare on PS3, that I will never be able to create a class without Activision fixing my account (they won't since the game's too old). And some hacker has messed up Black Ops 1-2 and Modern Warfare 1-3 on PS3 so bad that you can't make progress online unless you created your account before a certain date without changing your PSN name since. BO2 you can still play (last time I checked) by starting a match offline, quitting it, then going online though. BO2 on X360 almost always had a hacker in matches last time I played, making them no fun (infinite Swarms ect). The worst I've heard is on PC, where playing online can allow a hacker to get into your PC and put viruses there or steal personal info. Steam should just disable online play for those CoD games at this point due to the security issues.

I don't worry about people hacking single player games, but when their hacking affects other players in any way, it needs to stop. I know that some are hacking to try and help (like what happened with CoD 4, it was supposed to help everyone in that lobby, but messed me up since I was too low level), but I really don't see the reason to troll by shutting down the GTS and stuff. People just need to mind their own game when it comes to this.

HeavyMetalWario64DS

RogerRoger

When you're in a squad of healthier, better-equipped, closer and more threatening NPCs and yet enemies wilfully ignore them in order to bully you into submission, because you're the player.

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

Th3solution

@RogerRoger Agreed. I’ve always found it immersion breaking when you come upon a conflict and there are enemies and NPC’s engaged in combat and as you sneak up to scout the scene the enemies immediately have an aggro toward you and seek you out.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

RogerRoger

@Th3solution @ThereThere Glad it's not just me, then! And yes, NPCs charging ahead and blowing your cover, or forcing you to jump the gun in other ways, can be equally infuriating. Enemies don't seem to mind noticing them then, so why not when you're in the middle of a firefight, huh?!

Although I do chuckle when the opposite occurs. I think the Uncharted games are classic for ally NPCs just sauntering about in full view of oblivious enemies whilst you're safely hidden.

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

Th3solution

@RogerRoger Haha, yes — I remember Ellie in the Last of Us also being completely immune to detection. Perhaps that will be fixed in the upcoming Remake.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

RogerRoger

@Th3solution Let's hope not, otherwise she'll become an annoying example of the previous complaint! They might be inadvertently hilarious and totally immersion-shattering, but I think I prefer invisible NPCs over bumbling idiots who wreck my careful strategies.

I wonder if any game has ever managed to get the balance right?

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

Th3solution

@RogerRoger I was thinking about that too — wondering what game has done NPC companion balance best. Some games have your party running off during conflict and barely getting engaged at all, some have them charge full speed ahead when you’re still trying to tactically figure out what path to take into the conflict, and some have the invisible NPC syndrome like Ellie (another bad one for that was the companions in A Plague Tale: Innocence who often popped their heads up out of cover and walked around without consequence).

Because I do hate it when your companions are off and engaging enemies on their own and you’re so busy fighting that you don’t realize they’ve just been killed (or knocked out awaiting you to heal them back to consciousness). Having played Mass Effect recently I do think it had a remarkably good balance, especially for a game that old. I had to rejuvenate a rogue companion every now and then who had attracted too much attention and couldn’t handle the barrage and got KO’d, but most of the time I was able to fight enemies myself, while still relying on NPC companions to help, but not get overwhelmed. The command options help with this, as you’re able to direct your teammates where to stand and whether to hold back.

Another good one was God of War. Atreus is basically immune from death, but he’s pretty crafty and sneaky and stays pretty far out of sight during conflicts until you call upon him to fire. Also, MGSV come to mind, as D-Dog, Quiet, and D-Walker have enough built in stealth capacity to never get in the way, yet provide excellent support. Each has a reason why they are ‘out of sight’ whether it be camouflage, stealth tech, or just simply being a dog that enemies are prone to ignore. 😄

Edited on by Th3solution

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

RogerRoger

@Th3solution Companion management is a nightmare when done badly. Being constantly moaned at by a fallen comrade who's demanding you revive them in the heat of battle is probably another bugbear I should've listed in this topic before, but only in certain circumstances. It's an understandable mechanic and a good one when executed well. I've always felt like it should be a two-way street; if you're expected to save your squad's skin, then they should be able to do the same for you, too. That makes it fair.

And you're right, having direct command over your NPC allies makes all the difference. It's what turns a dodgy weaponised escort mission into a true tactical battle. I agree that Mass Effect is excellent in this regard, as it gives you plenty of control over your away team without forcing it. The game that got me here earlier, squad-based shooter Star Wars: Republic Commando, also has superb sidekick dynamics; it was just the enemy A.I. that cheesed me off, made worse by the overall difficulty.

Having never played God of War, it's interesting that you immediately followed up Atreus by listing all of the MGSV companions, because your description of his gameplay implementation instantly made me think of Quiet. They were an interesting bunch; not exactly what I'd call a "squad" in a traditional sense but you're right, they always made sense, and worked when they were supposed to, in their unique ways. D-Dog was my favourite (and yeah, made sense to have wandering around, so long as the enemy didn't notice his tactical gear). You're making me wanna replay MGSV now, damn it!

"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

PSN: GDS_2421
Making It So Since 1987

Thrillho

Whilst starting Cyberpunk this one came to mind;

Character creation screens where your character won’t stop moving

I can see the idea of “realism” or something but when I’m trying to scroll through the different noses on option, it’s pretty damn annoying that you code the character to randomly start stretching or scratching their nose.

Thrillho

Th3solution

Having played and completed Guardians of the Galaxy, a couple small pet peeves have come to mind —

1) Boss fights or enemy encounters where the enemy is invincible during certain sections of the battle. I understand the idea of making a fight really challenging, but when the design is to just make it impossible to harm the enemy for large sections of the fight and you just have to run around and dodge until some kind of window opens up that they can take damage seems like lazy combat design. I don’t mind it as much when there is a certain trick to bring down their defense or if they can only take damage from a certain set of attacks, but when there is literally nothing you can do, it’s just annoying. What ends up happening is you futilely empty a ton of ammo into the enemy and use up every special attack and every magic spell your whole party has available and then finally notice the health bar didn’t budge, so you would have been better off just sitting there for a minute until some arbitrary thing happens to open them up for damage.

2) When you finish off a game and it gives you a nice new skin, new set of armor, or new skill that you don’t get to try unless you play NG+. At least let me use the perk or skin for a little while, please. I understand that it’s their tactic to motivate players to play again on NG+, but that’s not something I typically like to do, so I usually don’t get to take advantage of the cool end-game rewards.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Th3solution

@ThereThere I agree. I had a similar issue recently with Guardians of the Galaxy where sometimes you have to be in just the exact nanometer of space and facing the right direction in order for the pick-up prompt to register. It’s really annoying. And it’s weird how it is so finicky for some items but not for others, at least that’s how it was in GotG for me. Sometimes the prompt appears without issue, and sometimes you have to put on your red trousers and wait for the right angle of the Sun. And you’re right, I seem to recall several other high quality games having the issue. I think something else I played recently had the issue too; FF7Remake and Kena, I believe.

—————————

A minor annoyance recurred to me last night, not really a pet peeve as much as just a design preference — games that don’t tell you when they’re saving. I might have mentioned this before, but its an issue I’m having now with GT7. There’s no spinning icon or message saying “Saving. Do Not Turn Off Console” to warn you when it’s saving, at least none that I have noticed. And although I am also sometimes annoyed at games which constantly autosave and the little spinning icon pops up every 5 seconds, I do appreciate at least knowing that my game progress is saved and I can shut down my console knowing nothing is lost. I guess with the lightning fast SSD there’s no reason to telegraph the save process for some games, but I am just too OCD to not worry about it.

Edited on by Th3solution

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Jimmer-jammer

This is a basic design issue found in many games but I’m gonna pick on Horizon Forbidden West, only because I’m currently playing it (I’m finding it rather excellent overall). I find it somewhat frustrating when a game gives you tools but then limits their use to very specific environmental prompts. For example, the pullcaster is a great tool for, well, pulling. Pulling heavy debris out of the way or pulling unreachable boxes down to Aloy’s level…yet I really can’t pull that rolled up rope ladder down off of that ledge? Or worse, that totally reachable-by-horseback/box/boost ladder just absolutely cannot be climbed unless I shoot it down with an arrow, even though Aloy would clearly be able to grab it if she could only find the strength within herself to simply extend her arms. C’mon.

This is hardly a revelation, I know, but as I begin to organize my thoughts on what the best experience in the medium that is gaming was for myself in 2022 - amongst some very high quality releases no less - it’s precisely these types of niggling issues that seem to be magnified by the freedom afforded the player in something like Elden Ring (yes I am shamelessly bringing Elden Ring into this, no I don’t feel bad about it). Elden Ring accounts for and rewards the player for pushing boundaries and thinking outside of the box, leaving the player with a real sense of progress and accomplishment. At least to me, it’s a preferable feeling than the one of frustration elicited from being funneled away from a clear solution for fear that I may not trip a scripted dialogue prompt.

For a (perhaps) less controversial example, it’s the same reason why I find The Talos Principle to be twice the puzzle game that The Witness ever could be. For all of it’s brilliance, The Witness still ultimately comes down to one single solution for each puzzle. Sure, one can do things in the order they so choose, but when broken down, there is one solution for each puzzle. The Talos Principle gives the player tools and allows them to figure out their own unique way to solve it. Is there a ‘best’ or most efficient way to solve each puzzle? Most certainly. But it really is up to the player how they get there with what’s available to them.

Anyway, let us as players find interesting and creative ways to use the tools provided to us. I’m tired of being given a saw that can cut wood but not rope. Ramble over.

Edited on by Jimmer-jammer

“Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.” C.S. Lewis

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