What kills your immersion?

[UkibyTheMaid]

shitty check point systems. if done right, like infamous, you barely notice death.
if done wrong, well....

I appreciate good checkpoints. That's the only reason I didn't go insane in Red Dead Redemption XD

I die all the time and the checkpoints at least don't force me to go all the way back, like nothing happened >_>

there's many a game i haven't finish due to shitty checkpoints. red faction guerrilla, super paper Mario, and so many others.

SUPER PAPER MARIO >.< Man, I loved the first two... What happened on the third guys? Really!!!!

 

[UkibyTheMaid]

SUPER PAPER MARIO >.< Man, I loved the first two... What happened on the third guys? Really!!!!

paper mario 2 was my first RPG, but i was anticipating 3 with open arms.

half way through, i anticipated my wii with the wall and the bottom of my boot.

The story on the second one is just awesome. Don't ask me why XD It looks so 'mature' compared to the first one.

But on the third one, just sounds like a cheesy romantic novel >_>

 

[erikthered44]

When a man who lives in my constantly relocating campsite explains to me that his family is in danger and I would be rewarded greatly for helping him, then asks me for my credit card. (Dragon Age: Origins)
Relevant Penny Arcade Comic [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/11/6/]

 

[Randomologist]

Usually, it's the fucking cat. I'll be totally sucked into the game's world, in that dreamlike state games can put you in, and then BAM! the goddamn motherfucking cat knocks something over or pounces on my foot.

Or they want attention so they sit right in front of the damn screen.

Or they sit on your lap, swiping at your fingers on the control pad.

Bugs and glitches, AI who can see you and kill you at a distance of a thousand miles, Obvious violations of the laws of physics (like jumping up on a car roof and then sliding off), Quick-time events, linearity, convoluted boss fights ("No, you can't kill him by blasting his face with a minigun, you need to fire at his big toe with a water pistol"), repeated dying on one small part of the game.

 

[Gigathrash]

Weapon systems controlled by the scroll wheel. I always scroll too far, and then I have to scroll back, and miss it on the fly back, and repeat until I just hit the number. It ruins it because why would someone get out the wrong gun multiple times? All the characters I play have terrible short term memories I suppose.

 

[veloper]

bad voice-acting, often caused by bad writers.

 

[Striker501]

For me its Quick time events, Really bad lip sinc, Retarded moral choices, Annoying sidekicks, very bad music playing for the whole game, and finaly...Retarded AI.

 

[eggy32]

In Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age when I click on something and the character says something like "It is done." Do they know I'm controlling them? I thought the point of creating a character and choosing what they say in dialogue was to feel like i am that character, but this really annoys me.

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

Peter Molyneux

 

[Seldon2639]

My biggest is when I remember that the character I'm playing is basically just an action figure. It's especially bad replaying a level in ME2 and realizing "well, fuck, no matter what option I pick, I always go down the exact same corridor fight the exact same bad guys, and do the exact same thing".

The other thing is when the game doesn't really stop me from massively changing my character's personality at the drop of a hat. I can turn him completely schizophrenic, and go from "loving earth-father" to "smarmy bastard" within the same dialogue, and the game doesn't bat an eye. It just makes the whole thing mechanical for me, which breaks any sense of caring I had about any of the characters.

 

[JustTriMee]

Achievements and trophies ruin the immersion experience for me. Way too distracting.

 

[GrinningManiac]

An argument going on in the house

I just KNOW that at some point they'll call me down and try and drag me into it because noone's owning up to doing such-and-such

I sometimes feel that my parents only give me 'responsibility' when it means I have to do things for them, and the rest of the time they lump me in with my kid brother and kid sister. I hate being shouted at because one of THEM has done something wrong.

 

[clipped crow]

In-game: Linear moral choices.

Basically when a game without choices tries to make you see things from a certain perspective so that they don't need to make it a choice. In far cry 2 I don't care how many words the jackal spews, I want to put a bullet in each of his eyes. Also, in splinter cell Chaos Theory, I saw the villain as my hero. lastly, BioShock 1's ending...

Spoiler

Blood or no blood, Atlas was the man that raised me and game me purpose. I want him to live!

Out-game: My cat and friends.

 

[Plastic Muscles]

Bleep Bloop - achievment unlocked

Always happens at the wrong moments when i'm really getting immersed in the game, brings me back down to boring reality.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Loading Screens, Referencing controls outside of a tutorial(that is why we have them), Invisible walls and distractions from the real world. Also a unrealistic hud. As much as I loved seeing my Ammo and how many clips I have left in CoD I would never know that in real life unless I counted it myself.

 

[Vitor Goncalves]

In-game, pop-in or serious clipping. Once I see it, I can't un-see it.

Out-of-game, definitely phone calls or knocks at the door.

Solution: headphones and ignore door and phone, works wonders for me.

 

[Yarpie]

Whenever the game has a technical hiccup of some description.

Example: I'm playing Outcast (it's about ten years old, but still awesome!) and I'm told by some dude that he wants me to replace a crystal at the top of a tower, thus fixing their boat light. So I head off to a set of platforms (supposedly a set of stairs that have been disassembled) and start jumping. All is fine and good until I reach the last platform. All of a sudden, my character refuses to grab the ledge, even though my jump was spot on.

 

[Naheal]

Whenever anyone in the game refers to the control scheme. It totally breaks the 4th wall.

"Soldier, to get over that wall, you're going to have to tap the A button".

It's even worse if they actually say it, not just in text.

Also, when my family hoovers. Difficult to get in the zone.

Once again, Furburt has beat me to the punch. Anything that breaks the fourth wall generally will break my immersion.

 

[Broady Brio]

When my mum interrupts me when I am playing to remind me of revision.

[Sarcasm. Initate!]

Really? What will education do for me?

 

[Red-Link]

I don't really get immersed. It's always in my head that I'm playing a game, that a controller is in my hand, and thus must be used. This, however, feeds into my extreme strength of suspension of disbelief. Whatever they say goes because this is a world separate from my own, and thus has its own laws of the universe. People can get stuck on a wall? Fine, that's how shit works here.