Remove a Game Mechanic from Existence

[Kieros]

Ice sliding puzzles. They are good in theory, but they just get more and more annoying, especially if you have to restart due to an error.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Quick Time Events.

Seriously, fuck them. I've already done entire essays on how worthless they are before and am not interested in repeating them any more.

Regenerating Health....I like it as a concept. Always have, even well back before it became popular. What I don't like is how every shooter *insists* on using it simply so they don't have to even try.
I liked hunting for items and even a limited amount of backtracking. Making every shooter into a one-way theme park ride just gets old.

 

[William Fleming]

Not really a game mechanic but anything that is pure trial and error (no skill, no examination or a keen eye, just trial and error) like say there is 4 things you must do in an exact order, fail to do so in that said order it bumps back to the last checkpoint. Now say that checkpoint is a good 10-20 minutes away, every time you fail you retread those 10-20 over and over again until you succeed.

Think about it.

 

[dudeman0001]

I'm curious. For those of you who hate QTEs, do the reaction commands in KH2 count?

You know, I'm talking about the ones where you're mashing x and triangle over and over during the final boss, or the ones during the Hydra boss fight. The ones where you pick up an enemy and use his beam to kill other enemies don't really count IMO because that's more of a context-sensitive command than an actual QTE.

Well, they are technically regular QTE's (even though they're always the same button, and there's nothing stopping you from just mashing said button, but the one's most people here are complaining about are the ones during cutscenes that you can barely see coming, and insta-kill you if they're not done right.

 

[Vibhor]

Not really. If you take an unlucky shot to the face at the start of the level and are left with only a sliver of health, almost any fight you're in becomes insanely hard, and developers can't predict it. Regenerating health means they can tune the difficulty for every fight just as they want, rather than having to worry about the chance that a player is extremely hurt.

And if they add enough health packs to make sure that you don't go into a fight extremely hurt, then that's not all that different from regenerating health. It just means more time spent combing levels.

Actually if you take an unlucky shot then you only take little damage because usually your character is a bullet sponge. Also, if they spread health kits all over then it does make a difference because it promotes run and gun. You would spend less time in cover and more in running towards next stop while shooting everything.

EDIT: Also, if you are constantly taking unlucky shot to the face then it is not your luck but the fact that you are doing something wrong.
Doom had lots of ambush spots. You flipped a switch and enemies spawned behind you. This way it was very easy for the enemies to get in a few free shots. Surprisingly neither did the shots killed me nor they made me go critical.

 

[Man_In_Gauze]

I just want a game in the Half-Life style of linear but not painfully so, where every so often before and after major battles you get a full health restore somehow, so during battles you have to conserve your health but don't need to worry about a careless mistake during said battle screwing you over for the next one.


However I would also occasionally omit those full health restores, just to keep people on their toes and from relying on them.

EDIT: I also have to mention, Half-Life 2 (as well as the first) overcame pretty much every argument about non-regenerating health through sheer force of quality gameplay design. It's possible, it's just that devs aren't willing to put in that kind of work. And it is a hell of a lot of work.

Also, this same argument goes for ammo. It's kind of lame to play a game like Uncharted (one of my favorite games of all time, though) where almost every enemy has the same kind of ammo, meaning you're pretty much stuck with AK/FAL/M4/92FS for the entire game, regardless of all the other options available, because once you use up the bullets in that SAS-12, good luck finding any more! Whereas (and I'm still trying to figure out how) Half-Life 2 manages to make it so that no gun is ever useless for long due to scarce ammo, but nor can you afford to be wasteful.

 

[tthor]

cover based combat, its boring as hell. I don't give a damn if it's realistic! I don't play videogames for realism!

 

[relevantcore]

When you receive damage in a game and your screen turns all red and ugly for the next 5 minutes until you hide behind a wall pisses me off so much.

 

[novixz]

Somebody puking strawberry jelly over my screen every time I take damage. Seriously, if you play the a game with this mechanic you can actually recognize the pattern to the point where you can draw it out. (I couldn't because I draw like a retard who has just been struck in the head with a crowbar) <--- Probably gonnna get a warning message for that.

 

[godofallu]

The question is simple: if you could get rid of a game mechanic, which one would you choose.
As in it would have never existed in the entire history of video games.

Things like regenerating health, cover based shooting, iron sights,2 weapon system, etc. Whatever pisses you off enough in games that you wonder how they even thought of the idea.

I'm definitely choosing regenerating health.

And I have a feeling the majority of you will too.

I'm going with healthkits and nonregenerating health.

How am I going to get 10+ kills in a row if health doesn't regenerate? Am I supposed to return to the health pack spawn every 2 kills and then wait around for it to regenerate?

 

[TheDooD]

Rubber band AI, forced motion controls and full health regeneration

 

[ChupathingyX]

Fallout 3 and Vegas are better with a more morally grey tone.

Fallout 3...grey?

*Stop Tunnel Snakes from abusing Amata or join in/ignore
*Blow up or save Megaton.
*Enslave or don't enslave people.
*Insert FEV into purifier or don't
*Let Harkness go free, turn him in to Dr. Zimmer
*Save or doom Vault 101
*Steal baby or don't (although the end result is basically the same so you don't even feel like you're making a decision)
*Blow up Citadel or blow up Adams AFB platform.
*The good BoS vs the evil Enclave
*The good Regulators vs the evil Talon Company.
*The all evil Super Mutants, well except for Fawkes who isn't exactly given a good reason as to how he became more intelligent, and Uncle Leo who is given no reason at all.

 

[WorldFree55]

it's not a game mechanic per say but Online Achievements need to go.

 

[Choppaduel]

QTEs
&
infinitely respawning enemies

are the worst

also universal achievement systems. customized ones in game are fine, if the dev wants it and has time for it, but achievs are too often shoe-horned in when it mandatory to have them

 

[Singularly Datarific]

Backwards trends in technology. The Kinect is a fun novelty, but you are limiting the control ridiculously. You've seen the tech demo for the Star Wars game, the movement is entirely automatic! How is this the future?!?

Somebody puking strawberry jelly over my screen every time I take damage. Seriously, if you play the a game with this mechanic you can actually recognize the pattern to the point where you can draw it out. (I couldn't because I draw like a retard who has just been struck in the head with a crowbar) <--- Probably gonnna get a warning message for that.

Good lord, I hate that. Earlier COD games did it right, it just felt like looking through eyes while in pain, not through a pane of glass with jam on it.

 

[WorldFree55]

oh, fable 2's way of not being able to die and instead you get a scar is kind of pointless imo.

 

[MyEscapistUserName]

Snip

This is something that needs to die.
I cannot begin to describe how many shots i've missed from this. What really pisses me off is that i turn off aim assist in every fps I play and yet it just won't stop. Although it did give me a kill in Cod 4 when it was set off by someone who was behind very light cover...

 

[Srs bzns]

Quicktime events and escort missions.

As for regenerating health, I've always liked a system that incorporates both regenerating, and non-regenerating health. Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo: Reach, which obviously have the shields, but also have a health bar. I'd also like to see what would happen in a game where there is a system that incorporates (very) slowly regenerating health, but also includes Medkits for quick healing. Would be interesting, mainly because if you had patience you'd never find yourself in unwinnable situations.

This. I understand some of the problems people have with a CoD style health system where the body can seemingly absorb and entire small arms arsenal over the course of a game but I'm not entirely against the idea when it's used correctly in say, Halo CE.

As for anything else,

1. Any 'perk', 'specialization' or whatever that increases health or damage. Both give an incredibly unfair advantage and in the worst case force players that have unlocked it to use it.

2. ARMOUR LOCK!!!! and anything similar in any other game. Slows the game when there is a AL-dependent player. Even one, let alone a team of them.

I would really like to see a game that uses no cutscenes whatsoever and develops the setting and plot on the fly, other than those.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Quick Time Events
Regenerating Health in combat (out of combat is fine)
2-weapon limits in FPSs
Checkpoints - Let me save when and where I want FFS
The use of the words "LZ", "evac", "marines" or nonstop phonetics and jargon [http://www.gamesradar.com/f/modern-warfare-2s-most-baffling-jargon/a-2009112311267786057].

 

[Rpground]

i hate to sounds like a broken record here but YES! AGREED WITH TOPIC! i hate regening health,ITS LAME AND OVER USED STOP IT! its even working its way into my RPG's and removing my beloved health bars! im looking at your Mass Effect 2,yeah you may be a good game but ill never play you cause of that! >.>

So you won't play a game because of one mechanic you don't like?

It must suck to be that picky.

Also, is your name "rpgRound" as in you're round and you like RPG's, or a literal round of RPGs or is it "rpGround" as in roleplaying ground?

OT: regenerating health is overused, but it's also necessary at times, same as quicktime events or fast travel, you have to ask yourself if the game would be more enjoyable without the mechanic, and if that would apply to everyone or just you. Were I to pick, I would remove sticky cover, I think it's cheap, I don't mind auto cover, like when you move to a wall and your character takes cover automatically like in 'The Chronicles of Riddick' that's fine, but when you have to press a button or "unstick" yourself in some way, that bothers me to no end.

well it turns out there is a mod someone made so your health doesnt regen so damn fast...it makes you use medi-gel who knew!

plus my name is "R.P.G.round" as in "Rocket-Propelled-Grenade round" i spell it as if it was a proper name,but its still pronounced the same.

also i should clarify that i WONT play a RPG that uses regening health like a FPS. slow regen out of combat is fine with me in RPG's. hell if ME2 had that and you only regen'd health out of combat,or VERY SLOWLY so its hard to regen your health in the head of battle.Infamous did that well so you almost always had to heal off of power sources or make temp ones threw shocking a metal object.only then i wouldnt mind it as much. its just lame seeing your character take a few shots and hide behind a corner sucking his/her thumb for 5 seconds to make their pain go away then go back into the fray. call me old fashioned but i like my health bars and med-kits,i miss them so much...