When a Gamer starts getting really annoyed...

[max_cady]

(Picture semi-related)

Hey, guys, I decided to make this little rant topic to discuss some of the things that make me very annoyed as a consumer. Particularly as a long time gamer.
There a few major issues I have and I'll try to spend as little time as possible as I can on each and every one of them:

Sequels, sequels, sequels...
It's bad enough that we get Call of Duty/Battlefield games every single year. It's further complicated by the notion that many games companies are taking the Activision route. By simply having three or four barely discernable IPs (Action Shooter, for the most part). It's taxing to say the least, when I look at game releases and barely see anything worth taking a second glance. And here's the crappy part, the new consoles, should they arrive within 2 or 3 years, they are not going to change anything.

DRM
It's the sole reason I don't play games on the PC, period.

Microsoft
I can't get mad at Nintendo anymore. They basically launched the Wii and stop giving a damn after Wii Fit. Now, Microsoft was, at least, for the better part of 2006-2011, the premier console for HD Gaming. But ever since Microsoft found itself at the top of the games industry, they also stopped caring.
Was it about being at the top of the mountain that makes a hardware dev turn into a sedentary, non-chalant and smug venture? Their Press Conferences have been dismal, too much focus on trying to turn a games console into a fancy set-up box. No discernable exclusives, no games barely worth a mention. It just depresses me.

So... what grinds your gears?

[SOUP]

It bothers me when good games aren't localized in english.

Valkyria Chronicles 3 and Ace Attorney Investigations 2 pop to mind .

[CosmicCastaway]

It bothers me when good games aren't localized in english.

Valkyria Chronicles 3 and Ace Attorney Investigations 2 pop to mind .

I second this. I am still upset that Fatal Frame IV never got a Western release.

[MadeManG74]

Typing on a phone so forgive if its weird...

I want to adress some of Max's points first:
Sequels: the industry is shrinking at an alarming rate. The companies are ' holding onto their balls' so to speak. In any industry based around consumer entertainment its the sequels that make the most money and have the biggest audience you can't blame them. Look at this forum, we lose our shit as soon as there is a whiff of a new sonic game, and w are supposed to be more open minded and hardcore than the average consumer. Thee post above mine is complaining there are'nt more sequels for him to buy. My most loved game this year has bern virtual fighter which is probably the eleventh in the series or something. We all want more off games we like.

DRM: worst thing to happen in gaming in a while. Everyone should buy from gog.com whenever possible.

MS: Again see my first point, they need to concentrate on their guaranteed hitters and want to gimmick that xbox until non-gamers will buy it, because the market is drying up.

Now for my rant: its actualy a rant about the gamers themselves
1) People who complain about sequels but refuse to try something new: (this is NOT aimed at max our soup because I know they do play new stuff). It shits me no end to hear about how theres nothing new in games.
 "EA does nothing but crappy sequels".
Really? Did you play shadows of the damned (one of the best games of 2011 imo)?
"Whats that?".
Well what about the utterly brilliant Brutal Legend a few years back?
"That game in the $10 bin at gamestop? I got fifa 10 instead...
And people wonder why companies go to ground with sequels? I don't mind if you just buy two games a year, but don't act l like theres nothing new out there and you had no choice

theres more but I can't remember them now...probably stuff about people complaining about not advertising niche titles

[SOUP]

@MadeMang:
I'm right there with you on people not supporting the new IPs that the bigger studios will sometimes take chances on. It kills me when great and original games completely bomb at retail . Child of Eden and Shadows of the Damned pop into mind right away.

On the flip side of that, Catherine sold quite well, so there's still hope :D.

[max_cady]

@MadeMan

All good points, dude. And I understand exactly where you're coming from. But understand this, even though, all of those big money making franchises are garanteed hits(though I think in the long run sales are going to dry up), it starts getting very difficult to sell or generate excitement over something like this...

Say you're having a conversation at a bar with some friends about games, it's hard to talk about something that will generate a ton of debate and/or excitement:

Guy number 1: "Hey, have you heard about Black Ops 2?"
Guy number 2: "Whoa, so soon... So what's so special about this one?"
Guy number 1: "Uhhhh... So... w-who won the match last night?"

To be fair, a new IP is a huge risk and most of the times, it's likely to fail. Dead Space and Mirror's Edge were two prime examples. Both of 'em sold poorly but EA decided to push Dead Space and leave ME in the dust. I never felt the need to badmouth the industry over the feeling that there is nothing new, or rather nothing to get excited for. But 2012 has been the exception to the rule.

True, I can't fault Microsoft too much for sticking to their big guns, but have you noticed just how little we hear of franchises outside of: Halo and... Gears of War? That's about it. Fable is getting a Kinect spin-off. And the obligatory Forza expansion.

[CosmicCastaway]

One thing that does annoy me is hearing potty-mouthed kids using mics when I'm playing multiplayer games. It  has happened to me several times when I play AVP. 

[MadeManG74]

Hmm, the only games I play online now are fighters, and nobody ever seems to have microphones connected when we play.

[max_cady]

I've been lucky thus far with online gaming. The only time I got called an idiot was when I was playing the a multiplayer match. It was a Condemned 2 match. I missed my target when I was attempting to lob a molotov cocktail into an enemy.

Spiral Knights ocasionally features some odd balls here and there.

[SOUP]

I tried the online beta for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and got all kinds of grief for getting killed a bunch of times .

[crackdude]

DRM is stupid.


I love sequels, because they give me more of the same, which usually is a pretty safe bet when I'm spending my money. I've spent 70 euros before on new IPs and got burned bad. And 70 euros are fucking hard to come by when budget is super-thight. So yeah, fuck me for not buying new IPs at full price.


In fact, fuck full price games.
I can understand games like FIFA, or Forza, or even COD, which have unlimited replay value. But paying 60 bucks for Catherine? . . . I loved the game. But it lasts about 10-15 hours. That's 6 bucks/hour for entertainment. I spend less per hour at the Hard Rock Cafe in 4/5 hours and still get dinner.


Also, "entitled gamers".
The bunch that made Bioware make a new ending.
It's okay to dislike an ending to a game series. It's a whole different thing to SUE THE CREATORS. This is bullshit and must stop. Also, people who complain about games and then buy them anyway. I don't like COD, I don't buy it! What's so difficult in that?


Pre-order bonuses.
These piss me off. On-disc DLC as well.




I may be coming off sounding like a "dumb videogame illiterate" but people need to start enjoying gaming more. The Internet is filled with gamer rage against games. I know dudes who actually buy games to look for flaws and get pissed off. That is NOT cool.


Simply put, games should cost less, I should have access to everything on the disc I'm buying, and people need to chill out.
And bring back cheat codes. Big-head mode should not be DLC you sick bastards.

[max_cady]

@crackdude

I've had some converstations a with few buddies of mine about why there are no actual cheats in video games, but I'm still playin' devil's advocate on this and to a certain degree it's true... Remember those PC games in which you do a little "hack"(and by hack I mean add one line of code on the .exe file so you could unlock a ton of cheats like invincibility and being able to go through walls)? It was cool back then, but at the same time, the game would become just super-easy and I'd get bored with pretty quickly (Quake 2 and Theme Hospital are two examples). And I think that's the rationale with some developers in which allowing to cheat your way into the game would result in cheapening the experience. To some extent, cheating is seriously bad on multiplayer games.

Now in something like single player campaigns... I'm still on the dev's side, but to a much lesser degree, because if I'm cheating on a particularly frustrating single-player campaign, who cares?

Who cares if I cheat in Red Dead Redemption? Or Binary Domain? Or Final Fantasy XIII-2? What I do in my campaign doesn't hurt anyone else so, why be so stingy about it?

I'm also with you on game bashing, you are free to take apart any game, just try to be creative, like Spill.com's The Loading Bar.

[crackdude]

exactly my thoughts max


Forgot to add this:
I think people shouldn't complain about games that aren't for them. I already said that I don't like COD, but I don't bash it. Some people love it.
I notice this with FIFA. I get the feel that the only people that complain about it being an annual series are the ones that don't care about the game that much. It's not like they are forcing people to buy it every year. I love it and only get it once every 2-3 years.

[Nameless 24]

When fun isn't in the games any more.

Nintendo is supposed to be fun, but sometimes some of the things bug me about their games...

Kirby, for example has this weird "Collect everything before moving on" level which always stops me from beating the games...

DLC doesn't annoy me that much as I buy whatever DLC that appeals to me.

Otherwise, I stress at certain parts of a game which makes playing the game so frustrating to try and surpass that I don't bother playing it and go back to it months later.

[CosmicCastaway]

I may be coming off sounding like a "dumb videogame illiterate" but people need to start enjoying gaming more. The Internet is filled with gamer rage against games. I know dudes who actually buy games to look for flaws and get pissed off. That is NOT cool.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. It saddens me how much of a negative attitude there is among gamers in general. Video games are all about having fun and I wish people on game websites would remember that and stop having hateful and cynical outlooks.

On a similar note, I wish some gamers would be more respectful towards video games another person may enjoy. Everyone's taste in video games are different so you shouldn't insult and belittle someone for liking a game you personally don't find entertaining.