Poll: Worst game-lengthening scheme.

[Vegosiux]

Escort quests. You know, those that have the dude you're escorting walk painfully slow and has to sit down cause he's a wuss every thirty steps.

Grinding only for grinding's sake. If there's nothing to do for X levels apart from grinding for that beef gate boss, then someone messed up rather badly.

Unskippbale cutscenes? Nah, not that bad, after a while you learn just what you can get away with while it plays (grabbing a new drink, bio break...)

Side quests? They're not exactly "fillers" because you can skip them, but then again, they shouldn't count into the game time at all either.

Travel time? Not always. For the first couple of times it's actually nice to stretch your legs and go on foot. But from the third time on I have to make the same walk and nothing changes anymore, well...I'd prefer to be rid of it.

 

[Electric Alpaca]

Collectibles are the biggest offender for me, not only lengthening the game - but requiring external sources to obtain.

Nothing to break immersion more than having to read a guide or have a webpage open.

It's gotten to the stage where I won't purchase a game if collectibles are present, and there isn't a reasonable collection method in game.

For example Saint's Row: The Third has a purchasable perk that puts all collectibles on the map for designation.

MMORPGs get an honourable mention, their very nature is an unnecessarily elongated rinse-repeat cycle. I know the appeal comes from the journey being so long, the destination being that much more glorious - but no thank you.

 

[Esotera]

"Oh no our plan didn't work and now we have to go through the same level but the opposite way (shock horror) killing a whole new set of enemies"

But seriously I don't see the point in making a game long. Call of Duty campaign is about the right length for me, and games like Portal are absolutely brilliant despite being about as long as a movie. I suppose it's a developer thing...

 

[LobsterFeng]

I chose other, because it's the near impossible puzzle that always gets to me. The one that relies on luck more than actual logic, so it's near impossible to do without looking it up.

 

[DEAD34345]

Another one for you, though admitedly not as bad as some of the ones above: Travel Time. There are two types of this I can see. You've got your Red Dead Redemption/Farcry 2 hike to the other end of the map style. Hope you enjoy staring at a horses arse/car in half hour stretches. Then you've got your Dragon Age: Origins/Skyrim style town fuckery, where you spend up to a third of playtime walking back and forth between shops trying to sell inventory.

Red Dead Redemption has instant fast travel to anywhere... I agree with all your other examples though, even if they are some of my favourite games.

OT: Unskippable cutscenes are the worst by far, in my opinion. All of the others can be fun in a good, well designed game. There is no reason to have unskippable cutscenes in your game. None whatsoever, unless you just like to make your customers miserable.

 

[him over there]

Grinding definitely, I see some people saying unskipable cutscenes but I'm fine as long as they aren't mgs4 level obnoxious. And if you have to see them again after you die and they're still unskipable then that is a whole new universe of lengthening obnoxiousness. Grinding by its definition is not fun. Plus its like you can leave now but you die if you're not this level. It would be faster to put kill x many monsters to procede; thats all it is essentially. What I hate most about jrpgs especially is that you beat the game at level like 65 out of 99. Why can't they just make an rpg like shadows of the damned where you don't grind but get a mandatory big upgrade after each boss fight.

 

[The Wykydtron]

The sliding panel puzzle, you know the one. I hate the bloody things, especially if you fuck it up and there's no reset button.

Only exception would be the ones in AC2's awesome puzzle sections. Wish they had those in Revelations, the Desmond stuff is pretty good though.

Ao Oni actually has an impossible one (i think), you just use an item on it to win. Now if only i could get those Ao Oni monsters out of my head, i might be able to sleep tonight. They're weird blue people and they're scarier than Mr Face from Amnesia... I don't even know why

 

[Mauso88]

Purposefully making it seem as if your target is within grasp, and then moving it hours further into the game right at the last second.

 

[HardkorSB]

Drawing magic in Final Fantasy 8?

 

[DustyDrB]

Millions and billions of fetch quests, particularly when there's almost no backstory to it. Just...
"Hey random person, what's going on with you?".
"I lost my granny's ring. Go get it. I give you gold. Gold is nice, yes?"

...15 minutes later...

"Here's the necklace!".
"Here's the gold. Now let us never speak again."

*Wanders around a bit, sees a person*

"Hey random person, what's going on with you?"

 

[Sagacious Zhu]

The backtracking is by far the worst. At least fetch-quests and level grinding allow you to explore a bit. Oblivion was a particularly egregious offender

 

[Risingblade]

The backtracking and the unskippable cut scenes

 

[emeraldrafael]

Plot that can clearly be pointed out and designated as shoveled in.

...
other then that, I would say items that you only use once for a dungeon puzzle, then never use again cause its just not practical.

 

[Whateveralot]

Unskippable cutscenes are chosen pretty often, which is quite strange since cut-scenes only take like 2% of each game's time. That, plus that it's only annoying in your second playthrough OR if you have an unskippable cutscene before a bossfight and it doesn't save AFTER the bossfight, forcing you to watch the cutscene over and over again if you happen to die a lot.

 

[anthony87]

Devil May Cry 4 is the worst offender.

Oh you're at the halfway point of the game?
Go through all the stages again in reverse order.

What's that you say? The bosses?
Fight them all again in reverse order

Well how about that, you've gotten back to the first area of the game.
Here...have a boss rush

Seriously, every boss barring ONE is fought at least twice!

And don't even get me started on that fucking dice game...

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Anything that you have to collect but the section isn't accessible for now so you have to back to it with the right items later

:< Makes me sad because I always forget where stuff was. If games are gonna do that they should let you mark stuff on your map.

 

[The Harkinator]

"Oh hero, you want to pass through this gate? I will let you, but first you must do something for me."

Every RPG, ever. Ugh.

Ah well you see its all part of the backstory! they're trying to show how some characters you encounter in RPGs understand the concept of 'Proving Worth'.

Though every RPG should come with the option to say:

'I'm trying to save the world here! If you hadn't noticed that includes saving your selfish hide too. So why don't I prove my worth by you letting me past to continue on my quest to avert the death of everyone?'

Without being blocked and told:

"But you must collect magical macguffin #27 or I will not be satisfied you are worthy."

 

[triggrhappy94]

Most non-end-of-the-game boss fight quests can be called fetch quests. What kills me is when they are poorly disguised fetch quests.

Cut-scenes don't bother me to much, but then again I've never played any of the Metal Gear games.

Backtracking can be a *****, but I try to plan out my quests so I don't have to, or at least be doing something else while I run around. Same with grinding: I just watch something on my laptop.

What really pisses me off is Alone in the Dark. I just stopped playing when I got to the blow up the death wangs part. Still haven't finished that game.

 

[Mister Eff]

Devil May Cry 4 is the worst offender.

Oh you're at the halfway point of the game?
Go through all the stages again in reverse order.

What's that you say? The bosses?
Fight them all again in reverse order

Well how about that, you've gotten back to the first area of the game.
Here...have a boss rush

Seriously, every boss barring ONE is fought at least twice!

And don't even get me started on that fucking dice game...

You posted what I came on this thread to post. Almost exactly word for word. Damn that game annoyed me.

 

[loudestmute]

I chose other, because it's the near impossible puzzle that always gets to me. The one that relies on luck more than actual logic, so it's near impossible to do without looking it up.

Thank you for reminding me of that pet peeve. Adventure games had an odd logic known only to the game designer and maybe the hint book writer for quite some time, but then Myst came out.

---Tip Sheet for mid-90s game developers---

Wanna make money hand over fist? Put out a game on five CDs that's mostly prerendered backdrops and low-res FMV! It's the way of the future!

Someone complaining about your puzzle design relying on too much moon logic? Tell them they aren't appreciating the surreal nature of your interactive experience. Now they're the ones failing at life!

Can't bring yourself to publish something with the festering stink pile you call a "script?" Bring in someone, anyone from Hollywood to help out. They're professionals, so they're bound to fix all your writing problems!

Blew all your budget on hiring some washed-up soap actor to half-heartedly read your dialogue, and now you need an extra two hours of gameplay? Take the pre-rendered levels you already have, and grab even more screenshots. Now, when the player has to navigate the environments, make sure he has to clock more times than someone playing Diablo to get across the room. They'll never be able to tell you were phoning it in!

Can't turn a profit anymore in a market that's supersaturated with shovelware adventure titles? License the Build engine and learn to draw in two dimensions again. First Person Shooters are the new cash cow!