Games grading player performance

[McMullen]

If I knew how to make this shorter while still fully explaining it (because I know people will get the wrong idea if I don't), I would. I'm sorry about the length, but if you feel it's TL, it's probably best if you DR.

I want to know if people mind this sort of thing as much as I do. The best recent example of what I'm talking about is the synchronization system of AC Brotherhood. Just now, I failed to complete a fight without getting hit. The situation was this: Two enemies left, one guy right in front of me, another guy about 15 feet away attacking someone else. I was in the middle of an execution streak and tried to continue it on the next guy, but even though I pressed in a direction towards the guy right next to me, Ezio targets the guy 15 feet away and takes a swing at empty air with his short blade. While he's doing so, the guy in front of me attacks, and since I'm in the middle of an attack myself, I can't block or counter, and I get hit. Full synchronization failed.

The thing is, I don't think that was my failure. What I was doing should have worked. My timing was right, my tactics were right, even my inputs were right (I was definitely pressing in the near guard's direction). Yet, because the game mechanics targeted the wrong guy, it says I fail. Now, people who don't have the same insecurities as I do might not mind so much, but for me there's few things worse than to have somebody else's failures blamed on me. Recreational or not, it stings just as much in the game as if it had been a work-related example. The sense of enjoyment disappears instantly and is replaced by a sense of disappointment, disgust, and just general unhappiness. It's like the opposite of fun.

The game would be so much more enjoyable if they just left that stuff out. Yeah, I've gotten 100% on all the missions before, except An Apple a Day because there was no reward for doing so and the premise (Ezio didn't use the Apple at that time, even though HE JUST FRIGGIN DID IT IN THE CUTSCENE AND DOES IT OVER AND OVER IN THE NEXT MEMORIES) was the most transparent example of fake difficulty ever. so it's not about it being hard. I can do it. I just can't stand this feeling that I'm being evaluated by people who didn't bother to perform very well themselves.

If we're to have our performance as players evaluated, then the game mechanics ought to be much more solid in terms of player input vs game engine behavior. In Creed, hell, sometimes there's no telling what Ezio will do while you're navigating certain rooftops. He might jump straight, he might jump in the direction you last pointed the stick 2 seconds ago, he might not jump at all but hang off the ledge instead. It's a good game, but the controls are all over the place, and in a game where so much error comes from the engine, it's just not a good idea to do this. Especially in this game, where the only thing synch earns me are five missions I don't really care that much about and the most boring set of cheat codes ever devised, which can be used only on replay. I've tried not to care about failing synchronization but it just gets me every time. The big FAILED notice at the end of the mission even seems to stay on the screen longer just to taunt me.

I really wish they'd left it out, or given an option to disable it. It would be so much easier to just enjoy the game.

I want to make it clear that I'm not whining because I can't stand challenges. I unlocked every one of the challenge missions of Ninja Gaiden Black and played them obsessively every day. The difference is, Ninja Gaiden Black has much more polished, responsive, and predictable controls (at least in combat), so when you fail (and dear God, you will, often), it is your fault. And I'm okay with that. I just don't like the game telling me I failed when it made my character take a stab at empty air while leaving his backside completely open to attack from the guy he just turned away from.

Anyone else feel this way, or am I crazy?

Also, do they have this in Revelations too?

 

[Mallefunction]

This is one of the reasons I love/hate AC Brotherhood.

Also, I hate scores. Yes, I think it's awesome when I can complete an extra challenge or do something that takes a lot more effort, time, patience, extra, but the fact that those things are often represented as just numbers bugs the EVER LOVING SHIT out of me.

I liked how Brotherhood tried to make the game more difficult with the extra challenges (I actually got 100% for everything after ages of trying), but I do hate that it's either 100% or 50%. Get rid of the numbers and games will be a lot more enjoyable, least for me.

 

[Vault101]

I just finished brotherhood...wtf?? (then again thats pretty much what i expected, plus I didnt see it coming)

Im going to hold off geting revelations...not untill I clear out more of my backlog

 

[McMullen]

I just finished brotherhood...wtf?? (then again thats pretty much what i expected, plus I didnt see it coming)

I know, right?

Glad to see the first responses weren't the "lol, just don't suck so much" responses I was expecting.

The funny thing is, this is the first time I've played any games this week (aside from Dwarf Fortress but, well, that's somewhere between "game" and "work", so it doesn't really count). My thought after shutting the game off was "This is something I do for fun? Why? I got more enjoyment out of sanitizing my kitchen this week than I got out of that."

 

[skywolfblue]

the game mechanics ought to be much more solid in terms of player input vs game engine behavior. In Creed, hell, sometimes there's no telling what Ezio will do while you're navigating certain rooftops. He might jump straight, he might jump in the direction you last pointed the stick 2 seconds ago, he might not jump at all but hang off the ledge instead. It's a good game, but the controls are all over the place, and in a game where so much error comes from the engine,

I think 95% of that is simply due to the fact that a modern video game controller simply cannot convey enough information to properly handle those situations. That "go anywhere, do anything" means making it extremely hard to tell what the player is saying in those vague controller motions.

Say 0.2 degrees separates the difference between jumping to the ledge you're trying to hit, and jumping off into the alley below and dying. Or again, fractions of a degree separate selecting the enemy you want to kill, and another random guard who got in the way. The game tries it's best but sometimes it's just impossible (even for the best AI in the world) to tell what exactly the player is trying to go after in a crowded situation.

To that end I think that the AC engine is a pretty brilliant piece of work. But I do agree that it gets pretty annoying when things go wrong. Until we get vastly more complex controllers I don't think we'll see too much change in that area.

Also, do they have this in Revelations too?

They don't have quite as many "Pass/Fail" stealth missions (or at least inasfar as I have played), so it's not quite as bad.

[edit] but yes they still have the 100%/50% sync thingie

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well that is why I stopped playing AC alltogether, the game has no direct controls it only takes them as a suggestion and then decides what to do on it's own... not the most amusing experience, unless you're watching others play and loosing their mind over it.
But the problem there is not ratings, just shitty design.

As for rating performance in games, 99% of those I don't like because they are done extremely poorly.
Mostly the problem is lack of fluent info on how you are doing and what you should be doing, so you just play blindly to the end and hope you did something right... sheer stupidity.
Then we get to the issue of importance, if the adds nothing to the game when why are you wasting my time with these flashy number screens, and if the ratings are important then why the hell did you not keep me updated on the progress.

But there is a right way to do it, and it's called Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
All stages have challenges, all challenges are clearly defined, all completed challenges give you extra items, as you come to an area with a challenge the game will remind you with a non intrusive pop-up, as you make progress it gives you a steady stream of completion info, and you are rewarded immediately... it's almost as if someone sat down an thought about the player.