Least favorite game mechanic?

[ShinRa]

I, for one, hate timed events. Any sequence in which I have a limited time to react (such as get something from point A to point B in X amount of time.

What's yours?

 

[Vegeta897]

There are a lot of game mechanics I dislike in games that I don't play (QTEs, experience points in shooters), so I won't count those.

After sitting here for 5 minutes thinking, I realized it's really hard to think of game mechanics you don't like in the games you like. Any thing I can think of isn't really a mechanic but a specific problem with the game.

Actually, here's one. In tactical games like Men of War, where microing your units and managing their inventory/etc is important, I really dislike not having some kind of real-time smart-pause system built in, that would let me take my time to plan and organize. Not turn based, but just auto-pausing whenever my units have no active orders. And if I unpause with no orders, it will stay unpaused until a new threat appears, or some other event that would give me reason to give or change an order.

Men of War would have so much more depth to the gameplay if I could take my time to plan and execute tactics without frantically trying to micro.

Spoiler

Do game mechanics...actually...matter?

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

-Super short single player campaign modes.
-Single player games that only have one environment, I want variety.
-QTE, "YOU GUISE LIKE THIS INTERACTIVE MOVIE? RIGHT? RIGHT?!!!"
-Single player games plot device that feature bad guy nuclear wepon durr
-one dimensional color pallette (COD brown, BF blue and Crysis/Far Cry green)

 

[Krynn72]

Actually, here's one. In tactical games like Men of War, where microing your units and managing their inventory/etc is important, I really dislike not having some kind of real-time smart-pause system built in, that would let me take my time to plan and organize. Not turn based, but just auto-pausing whenever my units have no active orders. And if I unpause with no orders, it will stay unpaused until a new threat appears, or some other event that would give me reason to give or change an order.

Men of War would have so much more depth to the gameplay if I could take my time to plan and execute tactics without frantically trying to micro.

Jesus christ yes. I tried to get into that game, I really did, but it is to be too frantic and micro-managey to be pure realtime.

I'm also playing Mass Effect again, and its really irritating that in combat areas your gun is always, permanently drawn unless you're sprinting.

 

[Vegeta897]

Jesus christ yes. I tried to get into that game, I really did, but it is to be too frantic and micro-managey to be pure realtime.

This is why you need to play multiplayer with us. Same number of units, but shared control, so you have less to manage.

 

[Adabiviak]

Consolitis: when the game flashes a letter on the screen, you hit it, and your character makes a move to progress... bleh.

Sans consolitis: defend this person/thing while he/she/it makes bad tactical decisions about how to stay alive.

I agree about timed events though... it's a cheap thrill, and very rarely how I like to play. A fun example of it, however, is in Tron 2.0. Instead of a timer on one of the levels was a, um, 'laser' of the edge of the formatting disk. You had to stay in front of it or die, but instead of having to do a quick conversion from decimal timer to a quantified amount of time in your head, you could just look at the giant wall of red and get a better, analog feeling for exactly how much time you had and how fast this time was disappearing.

The edge of the format:

 

[ShinRa]

Spoiler

Do game mechanics...actually...matter?

Is my soul to be tortured for all eternity Vegeta?

Also, I agree with what's been said so far here. And I never played Tron but just looking at that screenshot gets me kinda horny for it.

 

[Vegeta897]

Well if you keep making threads about games, I guess so!

 

[morgs]

To choose a specific example - the disguise mechanic in Hitman: Absolution.

 

[Bad^Hat]

I dislike QTEs in general, but I hate it even more when it's just a little unavoidable event that rends your control of the game away for a moment. It really breaks the flow of things and they rarely seem necessary. The grossest example of this from the last few years was in the Medal of Honor reboot (which was replete with these), where you're walking through a burnt out building and an explosion or something knocks you on your ass unavoidably. One of your teammates stands over you, helps you up and says "you're ****ing welcome" or something equally snarky. I wanted to punch the game in the face.

Even worse is this: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CutsceneIncompetence

Also, escort quests.

 

[ShinRa]

Well if you keep making threads about games, I guess so!

This damn section is dead without me. DEAD I TELL YOU

 

[Lobster]

Levelling.

 

[ríomhaire]

-Super short single player campaign modes.

That's not a game mechanic, but conversely: Games that outstay their welcome by padding the **** out of them. I'll happily take a two hour game like Journey over an eighty hour snorefest.

Oh and as usual everyone hates QTE (except RJ but I'm not sure he counts as a person). I think they're mostly badly used but they're good examples of them. In Resident Evil 4 they were terrible and in the latest Call of Duty games they're pointless but I bloody loved the QTE-laden first phase of Wesker fight (the real one, not the fake one with a hidden time limit) in Resident Evil 5. I thought it was done so well.

As for something I can't stand: Grinding in any form. **** grinding. **** farming. **** unnecessary levelling (I don't hate RPGs and levelling systems in general, just ones where you're forced to fight 100s of useless mobs that pose no threat to you to progress or level).

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Hand Holding in RTS' also known as Micro managing

"I'm a freakin' General, I shouldn't need to tell you when to use your own freakin' grenade launcher!"

 

[bobtheskull]

I dislike QTEs in general, but I hate it even more when it's just a little unavoidable event that rends your control of the game away for a moment. It really breaks the flow of things and they rarely seem necessary.

Same. Recent games for me that this has been horrendous and irritating are XCOM and Space Marine. The ones in Space Marine totally break the pace of the game and are annoying as hell. XCOM.... really? We need that many? Especially that early, and frequently in the game? I know of a few people who had never played the originals who were put off this game because of it.
If they are implemented properly they can enhance the story brilliantly while giving you a breather, but it appears to be too easy for it to go the other way.

I also hate grinding games now. Which is odd, considering Diablo 2 used to be one of my favourite games years ago.

 

[ShinRa]

I hate grinding as well, but there are a few games that do it well. For instance, in Skyrim, I wanted to fight the Level 80 required Ebony Warrior as he is the hardest character in the game (and to be honest with you I wish more games had tough/near impossible optional fights, another example the Omega type weapon in FF 12 that had like 50 million HP). So grinding to get to level 80 had a purpose, not just to say I got to level 80. Plus, with that kind of grinding I can go around and explore the entire world and really experience every nook and cranny while working towards a higher goal. THIS is what grinding should be.

 

[Higlac]

QTE and motion control in games that only have it to say they used it.

I'm also playing Mass Effect again, and its really irritating that in combat areas your gun is always, permanently drawn unless you're sprinting.

Can't you press H to holster?

 

[Stigmata]

Micro-progression level grinding. League of Legends, FireFall, Hawken, etc etc etc. Ooh, -5% shotgun spread! +5% run speed! +0.5% bonus something or other! How about a ****ing interesting and different mechanic, instead of the same one at 40 levels of effectiveness and in 80 different colours?

 

[Krynn72]

Can't you press H to holster?

Maybe, I had just started up ME3 and couldn't do it, but I went back to ME1 and you can holster, so maybe the keybind was just messed up.

 

[kineaesth]

I've not yet played a game with QTEs that really bugged me.

I really dislike regenerating health. I like shooters where cover and movement and the whole general dynamic of a bunch of people shooting each other in a space are done well, and every time I play a shooter with regenerating health I end up just sort of grinding away, getting a few kills, then retreating to get my health back. I like when you're forced to make daring maneuvers to get to health, throwing grenades and using covering fire and just generally being more aggressive in your forward movement

 

[morgs]

It's only a matter of time before they ditch the word "cover" for "recharge zones"

 

[Stigmata]

At which point "Cover" becomes a killstreak reward granting temporary invincibility.

 

[Oranges]

objective markers in linear games. no one needs to know how many metres away they are from the only door that is right ahead.

oh and 'hints' that are common sense, ala "press space to open door". its uselessness is compounded when we're reminded at EVERY door.

 

[ShinRa]

objective markers in linear games. no one needs to know how many metres away they are from the only door that is right ahead.

oh and 'hints' that are common sense, ala "press space to open door". its uselessness is compounded when we're reminded at EVERY door.

Your first post and you sound like a regular already...welcome!

 

[Remus]

+1 on the hate for QTE and regenerating health.

Now for other annoying things that may or may not be game mechanics:

The whole "return to the game area or we will kill you!" thing from the Battlefield single player campaign. When that shit happened, it pissed me off so bad I ragequit, and uninstalled it immediately.

Forcing you to holster your weapon, move slowly and stay in the vicinity of an annoying character that's yapping along, providing boring exposition for the story. Every single CoD game is guilty of this.

Invisible HUD that only appears when you "need" it. What's that? Invisible HUD is more immersive you say? NO! It's ****ing annoying, make it an option in the menu or something.

The stamina mechanic for running, jumping, etc. Especially when it's inexplicably present in an FPS that has nothing to do with realism (Doom 3).

Shitty flashlights that consume the battery power in a few seconds. Almost every horror game is guilty of this.

 

[Oranges]

Your first post and you sound like a regular already...welcome!

I try my best ;-)

 

[Vegeta897]

I like shooters where cover and movement and the whole general dynamic of a bunch of people shooting each other in a space are done well

Join us when Arma 3 comes out and you may find something special.

 

[ShinRa]

+1 on the hate for QTE and regenerating health.

Now for other annoying things that may or may not be game mechanics:

The whole "return to the game area or we will kill you!" thing from the Battlefield single player campaign. When that shit happened, it pissed me off so bad I ragequit, and uninstalled it immediately.

Forcing you to holster your weapon, move slowly and stay in the vicinity of an annoying character that's yapping along, providing boring exposition for the story. Every single CoD game is guilty of this.

Invisible HUD that only appears when you "need" it. What's that? Invisible HUD is more immersive you say? NO! It's ****ing annoying, make it an option in the menu or something.

The stamina mechanic for running, jumping, etc. Especially when it's inexplicably present in an FPS that has nothing to do with realism (Doom 3).

Shitty flashlights that consume the battery power in a few seconds. Almost every horror game is guilty of this.

I agree with this entire list

 

[Dog--]

Stamina bars.

Mostly you're playing as a fit muscular hero. How the **** can he get tired of running after 5 seconds? Bullshit. Even Gordon Freeman can run at full speed for more than 5 seconds ffs.

I'm not saying they suck 100% of the time. Dark Souls makes it work, but most FPS' that have them are stupid.

 

[MFL]

Well right now I'm playing PS2 and I'd have to say the really shitty flight mechanics.

 

[ríomhaire]

Forcing you to holster your weapon, move slowly and stay in the vicinity of an annoying character that's yapping along, providing boring exposition for the story. Every single CoD game is guilty of this.

Didn't you join this site when it was still called HalfLife2.net?

objective markers in linear games. no one needs to know how many metres away they are from the only door that is right ahead.

oh and 'hints' that are common sense, ala "press space to open door". its uselessness is compounded when we're reminded at EVERY door.

Yes to both of these. The latest Call of Duties are the obvious guilty party here. You'll spend half the game looking at a guy with a giant FOLLOW written above his head. If there are people who need that crap can they not make it so that it only shows up when they actually seem to be lost.

 

[Mogi67]

Classes

Absolutely ****in tired of having to select a class and be pigeonholed into a certain role. MMOs are the worst with this. Give me a game like Asheron's Call or UO where I can choose which skills I want to use

 

[bobtheskull]

Classes

Absolutely ****in tired of having to select a class and be pigeonholed into a certain role. MMOs are the worst with this. Give me a game like Asheron's Call or UO where I can choose which skills I want to use

Holy crap! I remember Asheron's Call. That game was awesome. Is it still going? I remember the support was pretty limited and a lot of the folk I knew that played it ended up quitting because of it.

As much as I know where you're coming from with the classes limiting you in some ways, I've seen other games where if you're felt to your own devices, you can sometimes end up with a jack-of-all-trades. This is fine for a while, and I've done it myself, but when you get to higher levels, it can end up useless cos your chosen skills aren't strong/high enough.

One thing I really hate is having to restart a game that I've been playing for weeks cos I reach a point where my 'build' just doesn't cut it anymore. Kinda puts me off investing all that time again, just because I picked a different skill.

 

[Ren.182]

Infinitely respawning enemies until I pass a certain trigger. ***** me right off. I like to sit at the top of a town or whatever and snipe sometimes. But I'm obviously not going to progress when enemies just keep respawning until I walk to the other side of town.

Regenerating health. Just takes any tension or difficulty out of a game if I can just walk around a corner and be fine again in 5 seconds.

"Out of bounds we're going to shoot you if you don't come back mechanic". I understand why it's there on some maps and I don't mind it so much in multiplayer environments, but it's damn annoying when I'm walking in a city and go to walk down a perfectly open street or alley only to get told I'm not allowed.

Objective markers. I'd rather be given a map or better level design then have to walk towards the floating arrow.

Classes. I'd much rather I can pick up any weapon, wear any armour and use any skills, so long as I've trained in them. I mean, just because I'm an "archer" shouldn't mean I can't pick up a greatsword and try and chop people up.

Pretty much just reposted what everyone else has said

 

[Eejit]

Crafting in single-player games. **** off, just give me the item.

 

[Remus]

Infinitely respawning enemies until I pass a certain trigger. ***** me right off. I like to sit at the top of a town or whatever and snipe sometimes. But I'm obviously not going to progress when enemies just keep respawning until I walk to the other side of town.

Oh yeah, forgot about this. Definitely hate that one too.


One more to add to my list: "Rubberbanding" AI in racing games. No matter how well you drive, one mistake and half the god damn racers pass you by. I prefer the way older racing games worked where you could build up a huge lead on everyone else.

 

[bobtheskull]

One more to add to my list: "Rubberbanding" AI in racing games. No matter how well you drive, one mistake and half the god damn racers pass you by. I prefer the way older racing games worked where you could build up a huge lead on everyone else.

Oh man, that is definitely one of my most hated. Sweat pissing out of you, you're in first as you get to the final corner/dip/jump/stretch, you've driven a perfect course, only to clip a corner/lose concentration for a split second/fecking blink - and its all over as you come in fourth!!!! And now you're doing your best imitation of Higlac's avatar...

 

[Ren.182]

Oh man, that is definitely one of my most hated. Sweat pissing out of you, you're in first as you get to the final corner/dip/jump/stretch, you've driven a perfect course, only to clip a corner/lose concentration for a split second/fecking blink - and its all over as you come in fourth!!!! And now you're doing your best imitation of Higlac's avatar...

Haha, yeah, rubberbanding feels so cheap.

Also, this:

Bloody eyes...

 

[Remus]

Also, this:

 

[ShinRa]

snip[/media]

I died