Disliked Elements, Mechanics, and Tropes

General
42

This forum is great. It’s helpful hearing what everyone has to say about this matter (especially when I hope to develop my own game.)

Going with choice games in general, what I dislike (not exactly hate, as @SwanMaiden and others have said, “hate” is a strong word):

  • Clichés. Now, by clichés, I mean the ones that are used without that unique twist that makes them their own. For example: if you use the amnesia cliché just to make an easier plot for yourself… That’s probably my end right there. I just find that a little lacking on the author’s part (now, only if this is without a unique twist of course). Fire-Emblem had a pretty interesting twist with amnesia, I liked it. Really, any clichés that are overused just isn’t something that would attract me to a game.

  • Most romances in games. Some are great, others are lacking. What I don’t like are romances where there’s little interaction or reaction in situations where there could be. For example: Say your character gets ill, suffered a wound. I’d like to see more interaction between the player character and the interest. I was a sucker for the moment in Way Walkers when Semryu came to the character’s aid and carried them. Little scenes like those are great. Would love to see this more in games.

  • I don’t like games with too many quest outside of the main story. Exploring the world is great, but the story is what I’m interested in. I’m talking about Skyrim here. I loved the game, but I don’t think I’ve ever finished one complete play-through to the end. I just keep going on these never-ending amount of quest. It’s fun, but in my opinion, a little tedious.

  • Too many choices aren’t my cup of tea. I like appearance customization, but when it comes to family, friends, jobs, specialization, weapons, etc. It’s a bit excessive and I lose the story.

  • Lack of personality options/growth. I guess Mass Effect and Dragon Age have been inspirational to me. I really enjoyed the joker option in Dragon Age II and the effects it had throughout the game. I’d love to see more variety in choices in games that are like this; developing personalities that affect outcomes and scenes within story.

If I think of more, I’ll try and add to the conversation.

9 Likes
43

Hmmm. I think the thing that I dislike most is bad execution/incorporation. (Wouldn’t say hate, though. ^-^)

To elaborate further, I think an author can get almost anything to work if it’s what they have for their vision. Like customization for example. Some games I feel like you have too much customization that becomes a hindrance rather than a cool feature. Others don’t offer any and you don’t really connect to the character you’re playing. But at the same time, there’s games that make all these abundant choices exciting and fun and influential! (shout-out to Zombie Exodus: Safe Haven) And there are others (shout-out to the abandoned? WIP “Heal”) where you play a defined character and it really works. So there are features that can be annoying, but can also really work.

This can be said for anything in my opinion. Like set genders, where in some cases it plays into the plot, or stats that can be a hassle or can make a game really intricate.

Mmm. Basically, in all my rambling, I don’t have a particular feature/plot device/writing style I dislike, because I’ve enjoyed things I didn’t think I would. So my most disliked thing is poor execution. If something is just there to be there (or something isn’t there), and lacks importance/thought, that’s my peeve. :3

9 Likes
44

I would love a back button!

I also happen to think something like this is a great idea, could be really funny-> Someone needs to remedy this immediately. You could call it Choice
of the Teen-age Half-Vulcan Lieutenant Who Saves the Enterprise, Wins
the Federation Citation of Honor, and Helps Captain Kirk and Mister
Spock Explore Their Latent Bisexuality (working title)

Anyway, I dislike overuse of the fake_choice with no apparent impacts for large numbers of choices in a story. It kind of annoys me when I bother to replay things and don’t get anything different happening in the story. Particularly if the only thing that’s different is the choice button. Can sour what is potentially a really good story otherwise.

6 Likes
45

One day I hope to write a “two-player” game where you can play versus yourself, versus a friend, or versus a randomised enemy… and in all cases you can fight them, fall in love, and/or work together on a diplomatic solution to the problem.

But not until I’m a MUCH better writer :stuck_out_tongue:

I don’t want to fall into the classic newbie-writer trap of, “Aha! I will now be original and different to all before me, because I’m an instant genius and that’s why no-one else is doing such-and-such!”

Felicity Banks

5 Likes
46

Romance rush and the enormous lack of character development in the official games (for the most part–a few titles handle this well, but theyre far from majority)

Characters feel incredibly one-dimensional and there’s a much greater focus on the plot instead. I’m waiting for my character-driven game in the official games categories :3

Otherwise, I’d say the endings that are just kind of dumped into the players lap, but this is a huge issue in nearly every form of interactive storytelling minus maybe the occasional Visual Novel and the Witcher.

31 Likes
47

A game I would definitely play :smile:

48

@Felicity_Banks
Would it be the same concept as in Divided We Fall but with two MCs instead of four?

49

Pretty much, except a lot of people seem annoyed when their only option is to play as a violent character, so I’ll attempt to make a diplomatic resolution possible. (Hey look! Sort of back on topic!)

Felicity Banks

1 Like
51

@Felicity_Banks

From the forum rules

Don’t sign your posts — every post has your profile information attached to it.

3 Likes
52

I completely agree. There’s a game that I majorly regret buying due to all 3 of your answers. I’m still baffled at how it is not only widely acclaimed, but was popular enough to be made into a trilogy.

4 Likes
53

I usually don’t drop a game because of things that make me sensitive, discrimination against persons with certain sicknesses for example makes me feel terrible since it reminds me of the suffering some family members with HIV were/are going through.

Now, something I really hate? High stats = Victory. That makes the game become way more silly in terms of flow, since the player is just going to go for the number hunting. And, you know, sometimes being good at something can be problematic, a fast person could easily not notice a discrete trap on their way, a slower person however, would have more time to look around and notice that. On a more cruel example, lets say a friend who just became a shapeshifter transformed into a mice, said mice walks close to you and you, with your quick reflexes and strong legs one-hit the little thing dead before it can even react.

The problem is that I don’t know if a player would feel cheated or more inspired to take different routes with such events.

5 Likes
54

only thing i have a issue with is the white background its a little hard on the eyes

55

I’m wondering, in what parts of a COG would players prefer to have the option to go back? It seems like it’d take the thrill out of action scenes, but otherwise it’d definitely be helpful. Personally, I’d want one in dialogue scenes, since often a game will misinterpret what I chose as something entirely different than what I thought it would mean. (Now that I think about it, I have the same problem in real life, too…)

13 Likes
56

Like with the Mass Effect games and Telltale Games? I’ve noticed that too, in some parts. I think they do that intentionally- so you’re like ‘OH SHIT!’ - you meant it one way but the character took it in a different direction. I like when that happens because it creates feeling in the player/reader. But I do somewhat dislike when all dialogue options are different from the actual dialogue that’s said.

As for going back… I do like having the option in some places, like for instance, after character creation. And I like having save points. Love 'em. But don’t know how to implement them in a hosted game yet. If I learn, mine will have them.

6 Likes
57

Personally, I hate when there seems to be build up to an action scene, you get the choice for an action, and instead of there being a cool description of how it plays out its just a one line descrpition saying something like ‘he didn’t stand a chance’.

And screw jobs, I’m not a big fan of unavoidable screwjobs. It just makes my character feel like such an amateur and I personally prefer feeling like a bad@ss.

8 Likes
58

Post deleted by ArcanaCero.

1 Like
59

Unfortunately the nature of the medium naturally restricts freedom. It’s simply impossible to create a continuously branching game that accommodates and develops every single possible choice. The writer can only really create the illusion of choice within the restrictions of their narrative. That said, I dislike being rail-roaded entirely, and sometimes it’s fun if the writer rewards off-the-wall choices (like sitting on your ass and watching the great evil expand).

18 Likes
60

I thought of you just now, as I added a plot-relevant toilet moment into my WIP. The character is from our world but has stumbled into a low-tech fantasy world. When he/she discovers that the plumbing is sorted out by magic, he/she decides it might be worth staying in the fantasy world after all.

And I just realised another one of my WIP games (because apparently one WIP isn’t enough) has a mention of toilets too - it’s on a pirate ship, and the protagonist decides the level of cleanliness, particularly how often “the head” is scrubbed. If the ship is too filthy, the PC gets sick just before the climax of the game and the fighting stats suffer.

But my other other WIP has no mention of bathrooms, not even when six characters are effectively trapped under a large tarpaulin for more than a day. Because ew.

6 Likes
61

I just wrote a bathroom scene in my WIP, and then I remembered this. :smile: Guess I’m covered.

3 Likes
62

Hate is strong, because there are few games I actually hate…but things I dislike in Choice games?

  • I dislike getting screwed over by a bad ending I tried pretty hard to avoid or at least see another side of, usually it is the SECOND time I am getting the bad end…and usually it is because I dared to try something different…and then it all boils down to X stat wasn’t high enough.

  • Railroading through the use of Stats. And numerous other ughs about stats. I get their purpose and there is nothing wrong with them (nothing wrong with bad ends for that matter), but sometimes its like:

Your David stat isn’t high enough to go to his house, so grey the choice out. Why can’t I just go to his house because I want to??? Doesn’t mean I have to get a good result, but why can’t I? Do my legs fall off when my David stat is not high or something?

To put another gripe more blunty, I don’t like removed or greyed out choices unless the reason is justifiably sensible. For example, you can’t use a spell because you have no energy. But locking in my character’s personality and actions…it’s like…just because I feel nice one day, maybe I feel mean the next day?

I don’t like when a game thinks it knows my character better than me through things like stats and greyed out choices. I am sorry, I think I said that a hit harshly. I am sure these things are often done well.

What I mean is, instead of greying the choice, maybe you could let me pick it and just give a different consequence? I just…it feels like sometimes a game locks me in based on stats and my desire for a more complex personality, when there is always potential for a more open game.

I understand how it is impossible to account for all choice, yet there have been times I was sent on an arc because of a stat. Not because I made the choice to go on that arc. There’s a disconnect between the character immersed in my head, and what the game thinks???

— This kind of thing has been such a worry for me, I set out to create a save system for my game.

  • I dislike one sentence pages unless pulled off excitingly or truly funny.

In the same vein, I dislike making a choice and then getting a one sentence page with something like “Sure you are.” It isn’t a huge deal or anything, I would just prefer to intertwine the response in something more immersive and keep the story moving.

— I truly dislike when I make a choice and then the chapter shortly ends. And then I can watch the rest of it quickly unravel, uncomfortably. All because of one choice.

It is a combination of what I said before about railroading…

And also with a feeling of being left out of the story. For example, not having any romances, thus I get a two page chapter whereas the people with a LI get a ten page chapter.

What happened to the rest of the content? Did it get deleted when I made that single choice? XD

— Fortunatley I have enjoyed all the games here, so these things can’t be that bad…:slight_smile:

11 Likes