Random gaming thing you loathe right now

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Got a thing that's driving you nuts that's in the world of gaming? Want to blow off a little steam, but don't want to necro the appropriate thread or derail it with a mini-rant? Do it here instead! Video game, board game, any game, rant about it here!

You wanna know what I hate? I hate marketing departments, FORCING me to spend money on games that I don't have time to play. I was so against buying Total Warhammer due to all the pre-order bonus shenanigans, but with every preview video it's like they're literally prizing my wallet open. I know I know, don't watch the videos then I'll be fine. But I watched them, OK? And I'm angry about it!

Early access makes searching for info about a game way harder. I went looking for a beginner's guide for Offworld Trading Company, and I found a bunch of stuff, but most of it was from when it first went into EA, over a year ago. I'm sure some of that info's still valid, but I've got no way of knowing what is and what's changed. Damn you, early access!

You know what grinds my gears GWJ, OUT OF PRINT BOARD GAMES! I know, I know, there's licensing, production costs, market share, company bandwidth, etc to take into account. If your game is going for absurd prices in the secondary market, there's probably a market share worth investigating. MAKE ME MORE GAMES!

Hell is other players

Skiptron wrote:

You know what grinds my gears GWJ, OUT OF PRINT BOARD GAMES! I know, I know, there's licensing, production costs, market share, company bandwidth, etc to take into account. If your game is going for absurd prices in the secondary market, there's probably a market share worth investigating. MAKE ME MORE GAMES!

Yeah, like where the hell is Warhammer Quest?

The stupid cost / total-play-time - odds of having enough time to start something new (* all the games already on the pile) mental math that is keeping me from getting a new game with gift funds that have been sitting in my account for over a month.

imbiginjapan wrote:
Skiptron wrote:

You know what grinds my gears GWJ, OUT OF PRINT BOARD GAMES! I know, I know, there's licensing, production costs, market share, company bandwidth, etc to take into account. If your game is going for absurd prices in the secondary market, there's probably a market share worth investigating. MAKE ME MORE GAMES!

Yeah, like where the hell is Warhammer Quest?

It's called Descent now.

I hate Pay2RNG pricing models, like most card games follow. I'm OK paying money for content, but not if I don't know what that content is ahead of time. I enjoy CCG game mechanics but I cannot justify the cost. I really like the Fantasy Flight model of giving you all the cards and I wish computer card games would follow the same model.

Putting new FPS multiplayer maps inside DLC. It splits the player base and kills games. I really, really hope BF1 doesn't do this.

The feeling that I'm missing something when The Conversation gets into a cycle where the game/s it's all hyped up about are MP-only games. I know I can't get into those, but whenever everyone starts going nuts about one, I just start questioning my own taste.

Chaz wrote:

The feeling that I'm missing something when The Conversation gets into a cycle where the game/s it's all hyped up about are MP-only games. I know I can't get into those, but whenever everyone starts going nuts about one, I just start questioning my own taste.

Nope, I'm with you. I totally missed the Battlefront train because it was lacking any SP.

Chaz wrote:

The feeling that I'm missing something when The Conversation gets into a cycle where the game/s it's all hyped up about are MP-only games. I know I can't get into those, but whenever everyone starts going nuts about one, I just start questioning my own taste.

More and more I'm finding myself in this camp.

We need more podcasts that exclusively deal with playing games singleplayer.

LOL, multiplayer.

#oldcurmudgeon

Koz wrote:

I hate Pay2RNG pricing models, like most card games follow. I'm OK paying money for content, but not if I don't know what that content is ahead of time. I enjoy CCG game mechanics but I cannot justify the cost. I really like the Fantasy Flight model of giving you all the cards and I wish computer card games would follow the same model.

I hate that this has infected almost every new mobile RPG-type game. It's the worst and keeps me from playing cool games.

Seeing people crap on good games based solely on their opinions/expectations. There's so much variety nowadays! If you don't like it... oh well, go play something else.

I'm playing Borderlands 2 but I'm really bad at it and die constantly. You'd think for someone who plays as many games as me I'd be better at them, but no.

PaladinTom wrote:

Seeing people crap on good games based solely on their opinions/expectations. There's so much variety nowadays! If you don't like it... oh well, go play something else.

If more folks adopted that attitude it would reduce game review comment sections by around 90%.

b12n11w00t wrote:
Koz wrote:

I hate Pay2RNG pricing models, like most card games follow. I'm OK paying money for content, but not if I don't know what that content is ahead of time. I enjoy CCG game mechanics but I cannot justify the cost. I really like the Fantasy Flight model of giving you all the cards and I wish computer card games would follow the same model.

I hate that this has infected almost every new mobile RPG-type game. It's the worst and keeps me from playing cool games.

My biggest gripe about these games is that it leads to some very bad design in the hopes of enticing you to spend money. In many ways it turns the standard conventions upside down, but not in a good way.

For example, let's say you want to make an RPG with Marvel properties.

Standard game design says you start out with the major properties. Iron Man, Spider-Man, Hulk, etc. Then, maybe as en enticement to fans or to help build out a roster you might have sidequests that earn you Hawkeye or Dr. Strange and Captain Marvel are DLC to be purchased separately. You can still do the core game with the primary characters though and the rest are added as flavor.

The F2P model tries to serve you the side dishes as the entree. Suddenly your main character is Hawkeye, the most ridiculed superhero in the Marvel Universe, essentially their version of Aquaman in terms of derision. Not a theoretical example as he is very much your main character starting out Marvel Avengers Alliance 2. They might throw in a few other side characters, some solid C-Listers, and you hope to pull one of the major characters from a random draw.

This seems counter-intuitive to me. If I'm playing a Marvel properties I certainly appreciate the extra "flavor" but want to spend time with the known characters. This goes for most of these games though.

It just feels so cynical that even if you don't spend any money you still feel a little insulted by it.

Running Man wrote:
PaladinTom wrote:

Seeing people crap on good games based solely on their opinions/expectations. There's so much variety nowadays! If you don't like it... oh well, go play something else.

If more folks adopted that attitude it would reduce game review comment sections by around 90%.

That happens a lot here too. Hold on let me write my 5 page dissertation about how sh*t the game is while everyone else is talking about how much fun they're having. If I'm in a game thread talking about how much I like it, I'm not there to defend that opinion, I'm there to share that experience with others that enjoy it.

b12n11w00t wrote:
Running Man wrote:
PaladinTom wrote:

Seeing people crap on good games based solely on their opinions/expectations. There's so much variety nowadays! If you don't like it... oh well, go play something else.

If more folks adopted that attitude it would reduce game review comment sections by around 90%.

That happens a lot here too. Hold on let me write my 5 page dissertation about how sh*t the game is while everyone else is talking about how much fun they're having. If I'm in a game thread talking about how much I like it, I'm not there to defend that opinion, I'm there to share that experience with others that enjoy it.

Yep. I think GWJ has been a lot worse about this lately than it used to be. Lots of people seem much more interested in tearing down the games they dislike than building up the ones they enjoy. I'd prefer it were the other way around. That's one of the reasons I joined this community in the first place.

Are you folks making a distinction between voicing concerns/frustrations/complaints about games that you like otherwise versus simply slagging off on a game you don't like?

I'm fine with the former, and was dismayed at the overly harsh reception several people got in the Dark Souls III thread (for example) just because they had the temerity to voice unhappiness with aspects of a game they otherwise love.

The latter though, hey; if you don't like a game, don't go ranting in a thread about it. That's pointless and silly.

Farscry wrote:

Are you folks making a distinction between voicing concerns/frustrations/complaints about games that you like otherwise and simply slagging off on a game you don't like?

I'm fine with the former, and was dismayed at the overly harsh reception several people got in the Dark Souls III thread (for example) just because they had the temerity to voice unhappiness with aspects of a game they otherwise love.

The latter though, hey; if you don't like a game, don't go ranting in a thread about it. That's pointless and silly.

Believe me, the former is definitely not allowed around here.

iaintgotnopants wrote:
Farscry wrote:

Are you folks making a distinction between voicing concerns/frustrations/complaints about games that you like otherwise and simply slagging off on a game you don't like?

I'm fine with the former, and was dismayed at the overly harsh reception several people got in the Dark Souls III thread (for example) just because they had the temerity to voice unhappiness with aspects of a game they otherwise love.

The latter though, hey; if you don't like a game, don't go ranting in a thread about it. That's pointless and silly.

Believe me, the former is definitely not allowed around here.

Numerous times I've explained how Rocket League, while objectively being The Best League In The World (tm), for me is subjectively like being picked last for the team, and spending the whole game standing awkwardly in the outfield, watching the bigger kids pass the ball back and forth between themselves.

And every time, without fail, the response I get from the Goodjer community is "doesn't matter! Come suck at the game with us - it'll be a hoot!"

Jonman wrote:

Numerous times I've explained how Rocket League, while objectively being The Best League In The World (tm), for me is subjectively like being picked last for the team, and spending the whole game standing awkwardly in the outfield, watching the bigger kids pass the ball back and forth between themselves.

And every time, without fail, the response I get from the Goodjer community is "doesn't matter! Come suck at the game with us - it'll be a hoot!"

On a sidenote, this post really encapsulates why I am sliding further and further away from games that are exclusively multiplayer.

Thanks to my inconsistent availability for gaming, I don't have the ability to be a part of a regular team. And in addition to that, there is a fairly small window during which a multiplayer game is new enough that you can jump in and suck along with everyone else.

But unless I'm going to play that game consistently and frequently (which, for me, means I'm not able to play anything else), the skill curve is going to push me exponentially further and further behind.

So instead what happens is that the general multiplayer population of games outstrips my skill and knowledge of the game so rapidly that it winds up leaving me feeling just like you described. I'm actually regretting buying into Overwatch based upon very positive early impressions in closed beta, because even as recently as this weekend I'm already feeling overwhelmed, but unfortunately I can't return it. Lesson learned; that's the last multiplayer-focused game I buy into based upon early access impressions (this has happened a few times, but I'm feeling it most keenly with Overwatch).

I did post my feelings in the Overwatch thread (while simultaneously praising the game's design), but kept it to a couple posts; only one of which was unprompted, and the few additional ones were replying to replies. I didn't catch too much heat for that as far as I could tell, but I do notice how frequently complaints or negative impressions lately generate a bit of a pile-on from people who think that you can't like a game while voicing any negative feelings or frustrations.

The last few posts are exactly my experience with MP. I absolutely believe that I'd be welcome into the community at my really low skill levels, but my play schedule is irregular enough that I wouldn't really feel "part" of the community. When most people are playing together regularly, a natural bond forms. When I come in as someone who only sometimes plays, I naturally feel like an outsider. Pile that on top of feeling like I'm terrible at the game, and it's not a fun experience. It's why I like the idea of the Conference Call play date thing, but I'd never actually join because I feel like the CC folks are a pretty tight-knit group, and I'd just be horning in on their fun.

Farscry wrote:

The latter though, hey; if you don't like a game, don't go ranting in a thread about it. That's pointless and silly.

That's exactly why I created this thread. Sometimes I just want to let out a mini-rant about a game, and don't want to drop it unprompted into the middle of the dedicated thread. Now I can just rant in here, no consequences! And you can too!

Farscry wrote:

Are you folks making a distinction between voicing concerns/frustrations/complaints about games that you like otherwise versus simply slagging off on a game you don't like?

Yeah, absolutely. To use myself as an example, I had some really big issues with SMTIV when I played it a couple of years ago. I went from liking the game to despising it in record time due to some elements of the game I thought were terribly executed. I voiced those concerns and discussed them in the thread. In the time since making those posts, there have been many posters in that thread asking if they should give SMTIV a try. Unsurprisingly, most of the responses are encouraging, as I was one of the very few posters that didn't enjoy the game. I have thought about popping in to warn those people off of the game when they ask those questions, but why? My issues are out there. If someone cares enough to know both sides of the coin, they can find them. I don't need to police others away from trying a game others enjoy because I didn't.

It probably happens a lot less often than I perceive, but it really sticks out to me when it does.

b12n11w00t wrote:

That happens a lot here too. Hold on let me write my 5 page dissertation about how sh*t the game is while everyone else is talking about how much fun they're having. If I'm in a game thread talking about how much I like it, I'm not there to defend that opinion, I'm there to share that experience with others that enjoy it.

Haha!

Sounds like the latest Three Moves Ahead podcast focused on Stellaris. Rowan Kaiser reviewed it for IGN and he didn't like it. At all. Everyone else seemed high on it, with niggle critiques here and there. But man did Kaiser seem to suck all of the oxygen out of the room for that epic 2 hour 3MA podcast.

Farscry wrote:

Are you folks making a distinction between voicing concerns/frustrations/complaints about games that you like otherwise versus simply slagging off on a game you don't like?

Fair point. I'm all for voicing concerns about games people have actually played, and I firmly rely on the opinions of other goodjers who have experience with games I'm considering buying.

The comments that infuriate me are by people who take a moment to that trash a genre without even playing the game: "Isometric rpg's make my eyes bleed," "Another fantasy tbs? Pass!"

There are a few genres that I have totally struck out with, -namely tower defense (except Missile Command, I was great at that) and card based games- but I don't have the instinct to crap all over every thread about them.

I also agree with you guys that multiplayer components have slipped away from me, because I rarely stick with a game long enough to be competitive anymore.

My fantasy TBS is one where Leverage never gets cancelled

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