The other thread about favorite mechanics is great, so let’s also do the opposite: what are some of your most hated mechanics?
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Game timers. I want to screw around on my time. The more time-based a game becomes, the less I enjoy it.
Timers just really stress me out for some reason. Give me more time damn it.
Yes! I remember that I could not really enjoy fallout 1 because of the 150 in-game days time limit to get the water chip…
I could never get into Animal Crossing for this very reason
This!
There’s not much else in gaming that makes my blood boil as much as being rushed… especially in single player games. I’m usually playing to relax so please don’t stress me out.
Fucking time trials man
Escort quests. Stealth sections in games that aren’t built around stealth would be close second.
Genshin Impact occasionally has little stealth missions where you have to sneak by guards.
Pain.
I hate how in a lot of retro games water kills you instanly.
First thing I do in any game. Test the water.
Card games that get bolted on to other genres. cough genshin cough
What about open-world rpgs that get tucked onto card games? cough The Witcher 3 cough
People have said escort quests but I’m going to go more specific.
Escort quests WHERE THE NPC INEXPLICABLY HAS A DIFFERENT WALKING/RUNNING SPEED THAN THE PLAYER…
I think it was on one of the Half-Life 2 developer commentary where they mention that the made the NPC move faster than your walking speed, but slower than your running speed, so that you are able to catch up with them if you stay behind to look at something. If they move at your running speed, you are kinda forced to follow them all the time, and any obstacle will separate you more and more from the NPC that you are supposed to escort.
But that feels terrible if you want to follow them without stopping (or in the case of obstacles, are able to).
Even Ocarina of Time, in 1998, got this right. The Dampe race, which isn’t technically an escort, would feel weird if Dampe was too much faster or slower than you, because it would feel unfair. But not everyone moves as fast while playing - some people like rolling, which is a different speed from walking, etc. Also, he throws fireballs at you, and players who are less good at dodging them will end up being slower. So Dampe doesn’t “follow you,” (in fact, he spends most of the thing in front of you), but he has a rubber band effect. If you get too far behind, he slows down. If you get too far ahead, he speeds up. This does a good job of keeping him in view, which helps give the feeling that you’re going at an intended pace, whatever reasonable pace you take. If you’re too slow, you will fail, but… it pretty much requires standing still or getting hit by lots of fireballs.
In contrast, the Yunobo escort in BOTW feels terrible casually and even worse to speedrun. He’s faster than you walk, but much, MUCH slower than you run. And if you get too far ahead of him? He stops.
I have yet to play a game where NPCs have the same speed as the player, have you? I get it on the game design level, since NPCs need to move at a speed that their animations look natural at but player characters need to move fast enough to not feel frustrating to the character.
I have yet to play a game where NPCs have the same speed as the player, have you?
RDR2 did an excellent job with this by making it more of a pseudo cutscene. You can just hold a button and your character will match the target speed.
That seems great. I have RDR2 on my wishlist but unfortunately it would require more storage space than my entire laptop has at the moment.
Probably simple, mindless side/fetch quests. Defeat enemies, get loot, run it back, rinse and repeat. It also is incredibly dry to watch as well as actually do yourself.
Daily quests or login rewards, things to force me to play the game, always stop playing
Any sort of intense micromanagement of units, resources, etc. I’ve got like 16kb RAM in my brain. I can barely remember what I ate today lol.
Also, invisible walls that make absolutely no sense. Maybe just all invisible walls, really.
Having played a bit of Zelda recently, micromanaging weapons. Oh, I’ve got this metal broad sword and I’ve used it to to stab an unarmored fleshy bad guy and oh it’s broken after three stabs.
I get that weapon degradation is a real thing that happens, as they become blunt or potentially fragile, but Zelda BOTW and TOTK take it way too far to the point of it being a real chore. I thought they’d fix it after all the BOTW complaints but TOTK is just as bad.
Honestly, I think thats just a love it or hate it thing that I can totally see why it isnt for everyone and I dont blame you, but I personally love it and would hate to see it reduced/taken away. Once I leaned into it it really encourages me to explore and I enjoy the new fuse system enough that I like when a weapon breaks because Im excited to make a new one
I’m actually getting impatient when a weapon lasts too long, because I want it to break already so I can use something new and interesting without feeling like I’m wasting it. :P
I think part of it is having enough weapon slots that I’m choosing different weapons in different contexts, and so they all subjectively feel like they’re lasting longer than they did at the start of the game (even accounting for regular vs sturdy weapons).
Also making more use of shield fusions lately, and consumables on arrows, which again results in using the weapons less.
I keep kinda wishing I could fuse things to my bows though lol, even though I can use so many different consumables with the arrows already.
Yeah! I just learned that fusing elemental items to shields adds elemental shockwaves when you block, and it really made me think more about my shield fusions
You’ve made me suddenly realize how rare invisible walls have gotten in my gaming life.
The closest I’ve come recently are “barriers” that are clearly just, like, a small pile of trash that could be easily walked over, but even that is rarer than it used to be.
I like some micromanagement. If it’s tinkering with gear or stats then I’m down. Working out how to squeeze out that little extra bit of damage or efficiency is great. However, if you have to actively micromanage units or resources during combat, then its a pass for me. I feel like micromanagement should be an addendum to the core gameplay loop, not it’s focus.
I really like the early access game Against the Storm, because it’s got micromanagement, but it’s also a bit of a roguelike so that no one run ever gets big enough to get too bogged down. It’s got the feel of the fun early part of a Civ game, but almost all the time, and with fun variations.
Obligate stamina bars/circles for traversal. Just allow me to move at the speed of fun, and definitely don’t make me stand still to recharge when climbing.
I think it’s telling that death stranding, a game all about traversal, let’s you sprint outright for as long as you want until well after your character’s shoes literally fall off. The stamina bar is more a measure of abuse rather than a limit on your movement.
I like stamina bars in many circumstances, but I’ve decided I hate them specifically in life sim games like Stardew Valley, My Time at Portia, and similar - at least unless there’s an easy and fun way to re-fill them. I won’t write them off entirely, I think it can be done well, but in practice in these games they often serve no purpose but to frustrate you.
Good point! How is “my time?” I’ve been thinking of getting it to play with my gf. We really like dinkum.
I’ve never been a fan of character weapon skill being tied to the bullet not hitting where the player is aiming in first person RPGs and immersive sims. Think something like Fallout 3, where a shot with a sniper rifle can be perfectly lined up, but the bullet might veer off randomly.
I do understand and appreciate character weapon skills being tied to certain weapons encrouages distinct playstyles, but there are many other ways to implement it that don’t feel as arbitrary. Tying character skill to greater reticle sway, longer time to aim down sights, longer reload times, more likely to jam or jams taking longer to clear. It accomplishes the same goal of rewarding putting points into the skill and making players feel like they are progressing, but without creating the instant frustration of missing a clearly lined up shot.
On that note, actively degrading weapons are not something I think has ever been a good idea. It’s neither fun, nor is the rate of degradation ever realistic. If the goal is to make player cautious, then limiting ammunition and the availability of good weapons is a much better idea. I have no problem with weapons in different conditions existing in a game, for example: Pristine rifle, good rifle, rusty rifle, etc. That’s fine, but a good rifle should never degrade into a rusty rifle in the hands of the player.
Areas of open worlds dynamically level scaling to match players is another gripe I have. Once a player notices it, it takes away the feeling of progress from leveling up. In some cases, smarter players in games have found certain areas easier to beat with low level characters. It creates a bad kind of meta-game. I much prefer worlds where every area is built with a certain player level in mind. Honestly, overleveling in RPGs and going to wreck starting bandit camps is a joy that shouldn’t be taken away.
Crafting. I don’t want to have to remember the recipe to stuff, then find out where it is, then keep going back to make it again
I like crafting in general, but the “trek across the map to collect large quantities of ingredients only available in a specific place” part of it, when there is no way to automate that process, and especially if you also have very limited and manually managed inventory space, is maddening (looking at you, subnautica, gosh darnit.)
I know it’s a popular mechanic that lots of people love, but I really don’t like games where you die a lot, or where death has significant impact. I generally play games to chill out and just have fun and I often feel like games are punishing me when that happens and I find myself doing sort of “risk management” and becoming a hermit in the game.
I love shooters but I can’t do fortnight or any game mode that CS-esque because I need that respawn
Death penalties. Any game that seriously penalizes you for dying is just so frustrating for me. I understand that there has to be some form of reason to not die but please, at worst just reload an earlier save for me (and make sure you have frequent autosaves too).
If I lose all my items on death I’m just reloading a save. If I have to respawn at a checkpoint ten thousand years away I’m going to be very mad. If I have to listen to someone monologue to me every time I die I’m refunding your game.
If I have to respawn at a checkpoint ten thousand years away I’m going to be very mad
I’m playing Jedi Fallen Order these days and this is incredibly frustrating.
Crafting with survival elements, one button stealth attacks, random loot with stats in story games.
Not a gameplay mechanic but constant fucking talking mains and npcs
Disclaimer: not always
Character stats, commonly called “RPG elements”.
In games with low enough detail that I have to use my imagination, it makes sense to have a character constitution 10 increase to 15 and take 50% less damage from blunt weapons. It works perfectly in Rimworld, ADOM, Terraria and the like because you can’t completely see what’s happening, so when your character does low damage your imagination has room for him to hit badly or be partially blocked.
But in games with modern graphics and animations, it feels… off. An attack animation that shows someone swinging a sharp steel battleaxe perfectly and connecting with bare flesh at momentum, deals… no damage because the wielder has low strength and axe skill, while the target has a high armor value.
IMO it goes triply so for games with guns, if regular enemies can just shrug off bullets to the head I have difficulty enjoying it cause it just makes the weapons feel weak
