What Ruins a Game For You?

[gigastar]

I was enjoying Dark souls. I really liked the game and I enjoyed the multiplayer aspect, I thought it was really cool. However the crap that is PvP ruined it for me, I tried to play it but the whole thing is just people with completely OP end game items killing me through my block in one hit with lightning spears or something.
Just ruined the multiplayer aspect of the game for me and I eventully got bored of playing. I plan to go back to it to finish the game at some point but I have other games to play for now.

Pretty much this. Also you could try playing in offline mode, or if you want to stay online you could just exit the game whenever someone invades your world.

It's not that I get invaded all the time it's that I can't do it. I thought it could be a really cool feature but I pretty much cannot use it at all since everyone has just gotten some end game weapon. I was hoping to play a little bit of it as I play through but it seems that I need to complete the game then look up guides on how to not have fun online before I can even try PvP.

Possibly you could try joining the Gravelord Servant [http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/Gravelord+Servant] covenant, its not especially late-game and it brings people to you, meaning you get a home advantage. Plus you get quite a nice sword from it too.

I don't think im far enough. Im still in Andor Londo, I got annoyed at the gargoyle things and the archers and decided to give the game a small break. However I then started enjoying Skyrim again, as well as playing more League of legends so I haven't gone back to it yet. I will eventully but I doubt i'll even bother with PvP, it just seemed like such a crappy griefing fest.

On the contrary if youve reached Anor Londo then with a decent divine weapon then you can nearly breeze to joining the covenant.

And if PvP isnt your cup of tea after all, theres always the option of joining the Sunbro's and engaging in some jolly cooperation.

I haven't made a faith champion yet but I may try that soon. I was thinking of making a kinght character with heavy armour, normal weapons and that awesome lightning spear miracle. Any tips for joining them? I remember hearing I need 50 faith or to do a lot of co-op or something.

Well most obviously youre going to need a fairly faith-heavy character biuld to get in.

The requirement to join was once 50 faith -5 for every boss youve beaten as a white phantom, after the 1.05 patch it was cut to 25 faith -5 for every boss youve beaten as a white phantom.

The act of actually joining can be done pretty early in the game. On the bridge where you probably got fried by a giant red lizard with wings, the place you need to be to join the covenant is at the end of that bridge. Easy way to get past it, from the halfway point on the bridge where the stairs are shoot it with a bow, then as its coming down leg it to the end of the bridge and out of its view before it can turn around and torch you. When you get out of its target zone it should fly away, making the bridge safe until it comes back. Theres also a bonfire at the end of the bridge.

If you meet the requirement to join the Sunbro's, then youll be able to pray at the altar to the right from where you came off the bridge, or if you reached the bonfire you can talk to Solaire to get initiated.

When you join youre given the lightning spear miracle and the ability to cast it (its covenant-exclusive, you not in the covenant, you cant use), offering up 10 sunlight medals will unlock the great lightning spear miracle, and in New Game+, offering up the soul of the final boss to the covenant altar after offering 10 medals previously unlocks the sunlight spear miracle, which is about as powerful as it sounds.

Its also worth mentioning that joining Sunbro's will get you a higher connectivity rate among people who are also in Sunbro, the Way of White and the Princess Guard covenants. It doesnt mean you wont be invaded though, so keep this in mind.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Having an insufferable whiny fanbase that won't STFU.

EDIT: Mass Effect, I'm looking at you.

 

[RJ 17]

For me it's when lame/stupid/forced things occurred in order to drive the plot, this happens mostly in cutscenes.

Perfect case in point: the end of Dead Island.

You're up on the helipad having the standoff with the asshole military guy who's trying to backstab you and leave you to rot. First and foremost, the group is just kinda.....standing there. Wait, what happened to that electrified katana I was just chopping through Zombies with? What happened to the poisonous axe I had been throwing at people's heads? What happened to all the guns I had collected?

The whole group is just standing there unarmed and utterly stupified as the traitor shoots the mechanic's daughter that you've been lugging around with you for half the game. God forbid they rush the single guy who only has a pistol. No, we're just gonna stand there and watch as he does all this crap and not bother to stop him. All I could think through that entire cutscene was the famous Homer Simpson line "If I had my gun I'd shoot you..." to which the smug gun store owner replied what I imagined the villain would have replied in this case: "Yeeeeeah but you don't."

 

[Torrasque]

This whole "if one of your units dies, you have to wait for the enemy to SLOWLY finish their turn, then reload a previous save, then go through all the dialogue and other shit leading up to that point again, THEN you have to hope that your unit actually gets an easy headshot rather than miss and get blown away" thing, that Valkyria Chronicles has going, is really really annoying.

A simple "restart the level" button in the menu would be fucking awesome and really easy to implement rather than me simply going to a previous save. It'd also be harder to abuse rather than the whole "oh hey, my unit did what they were supposed to do, and killed the enemy I wanted them to kill? SWEET. Time to save" thing...

Besides that, this game is fucking win.
Oh, and there's the "I WILL NEVER HIT ANYTHING I AIM AT" thing that some units have, but I've just thrown them out of my squad. Like this one Lancer I had that missed a tank that was 20 yards away from him, despite aiming center mass, and his rocket killed a random Shock Trooper because it collided with his face. After the 20 seconds of laughter died down, I threw his ass into the abyss.

Oh, speaking generally:
Shitty UI
A bad soundtrack
Poor balancing

That pretty much covers everything else.

Edit: I forgot to complain about the cutscenes that are not really cutscenes in Valkyria Chronicles! You know how normal cutscenes work right? You sit back and watch the dialogue to through? Well there are some of those in Valkyria Chronicles, but there are more cutscenes that aren't really cutscenes, because you have to manually cycle through the dialogue. They are entirely story driving aspects, they are not part of the gameplay, they are "click here to watch this! now keep clicking so you can keep watching it". It is like the animators got too lazy to make ALL the fucking cutscenes into FUCKING CUTSCENES.

 

[5ilver]

Bad camera, mouse acceleration (aka shitty console port syndrome), Risen 2's firearms/melee "combat system".

 

[sextus the crazy]

Cheap deaths & Fake Difficulty in general: I want to have control over my own fate plz.

Repetition (especially with boring combat): The thing that ruins MMOs and Far Cry 2.

Terrible Match making: This specifically for World of Tanks, but It took a game that I loved so much and ruined it.

Shit Controls: GTA (all of them, even 4)

 

[Austin Howe]

Let it be shouted from the top of every mountain:

SSSSSIIIIILLLLLEEENNNNTTTT PPPPPRRRRROOOOOOTTAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOONIIISSSSSSTTTTTTTS!!!

(Simple Version: Silent Protagonists.)

Also, although it doesn't really ruin a game, the disappearence of a well written romance sub-plot.... just because I'm sappy and one of those romantic types.

Agreed. And I'm about to pull the weirdest fucking example, but Vivi/Eiko was seriously going somewhere, and it could've created nice contrast. Where I'd call the raomance between Zidane and Dagger "mature" (IE the problems with it have more to do with high society and how it would affect their "careers" and such) with a nice happy ending, Vivi/Eiko could've been this ridiculously adorable thing with all sorts of almsot-confessions and shit with a tragedy at the end which would add to the punch of Vivi dying at the end of the game. Am I the only one who ever thought about this? I mean I know they're supposed to both be less than 10, but like I said, cute.

Tedious combat.

Seconded. It's probably because I'm a pretentious asshole who considers drinking good coffee whilst playing Ico a good start to a day, but I'd rather have a game with no combat at all than combat that fails.

I don't play many RPGs. But when I do, I seem to always hit a wall that stops me from playing. It's usually a boss fight that's too powerful for me to beat, but was so difficult to reach that I don't want to leave and go level grinding.

It doesn't ruin the game for me, but it always is the point where my otherwise unbroken streak of playing that one game comes to an abrupt and lengthy halt.

I used to have this problem all the time when I was a kid.

Honestly? Nothing . No gamplay elements grind my gears to the point that i will stop playing it half way. Sure there are things i dislike , but unless the entire game is bad , i persevere .

Overall, I'd say all these elements are bad, but this remains true.

Shoutouts to Griever for being a Final Fantasy VIII fan.

 

[RustlessPotato]

bad camera

no story or lack-thereoff

insultingly short

an uninsteresting setting (granted thats highly subjective)

So you mean Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2 ?

 

[RustlessPotato]

A stupid premise.

So there I am, enjoying the shit out of Condemned Criminal Origins. Then over skype one of my buddies says

Spoiler

"You know that the second half of the second game is nothing but cultists and evil magic right?"

I tried playing the game over the next level but the thought of the overarching plot just bothered the crap out of me. They removed all mystery from the game, and explained it in a stupid way. No matter what you do you can never explain these sorts of things in a way that will live up to our imagination.
I couldn't play it anymore.

The first one was ok. But the second half of the second game is completely bonkers. I don't want to spoil it for you, but just be warned it's more retarded than the first.

 

[Diminished Capacity]

Online Multiplayer.

I'm terrible at it, and I don't want to interact with other players online. Achievements and trophies are usually tied to it, and I don't want to spend time grinding in an uncomfortable setting for those (arguably) meaningless rewards. If only I weren't so obsessive.

Incidentally, thank you Uncharted 3 for only requiring me to play 1 deathmatch to get the platinum and 100%

 

[templar1138a]

It's not always a deal-breaker, but it certainly goes in the "con" column when I'm considering playing it again: Bad voice acting.

For example, I'm a fan of the X games because they are simultaneously space combat and management sims. But the voice acting is TERRIBLE.

And one thing that I remind myself of whenever I start a new game in the Mass Effect series is that at some point, I have to put up with Ali Hillis's bad portrayal of Liara T'Soni. And the sad thing is that as a character, she's far more appealing to me than Ashley Williams, whom I kill every time I play the first game (and am generally impatient to do so). And then I continue the romance with her in Mass Effect 2 because Jack annoys me, I friend-zone Tali, and I don't romance Miranda on principle due to her being walking fan-service (though I give Bioware points for basically making sure that her characterization is a commentary on highly attractive, supercilious, bad-ass women in games).

I haven't played Mass Effect 3 yet, so once my Xbox is fixed, we'll see if Hillis's voice acting has improved... ah, who am I kidding?

 

[Rawne1980]

Stupid "plot twists"....

You know the one....

You're playing a game, you have someone helping you somehow or telling you what to do and then it turns out they betray you/work with the enemy....

This isn't a "plot twist", we saw it coming the minute they started twirling their tache at the start of the game. The big flashing badge they wore saying "later on, i'm going to be evil".

Stop doing it. It's predictable.

 

[Songblade]

- Bugs (seriously... why we gamers let this happen again and again is shameful.)
- Repetitive ANYTHING.
- DLC unlocks for on-disc features (they're on the disc, therefore they're NOT DLC)
- KIDS as the MAIN CHARACTERS. Can't stand it - or games where the artwork makes them look like children. My friends liked FF9... couldn't get into it. Same with FFXIII...
- ... plus the regular criteria for games (story, sound, chars, etc.)

 

[Kyr Knightbane]

Single player:

1) Hype. If a game has been touted as the epitome of gaming and every single review has come out for it proclaiming it to be better than sex and sliced bread, and then once you play it, its terrible, monotonous, and short, that ruins games for me.

2) Lack of Customization. Unless a game is in an established series, and you are playing a well thought out, well characterized in game avatar, why can't i change their appearance? Why can't i color my armor or my hair or the tint of the blood on my blade? Games are a way to live vicariously doing things that you normally could not.

3) Rushed or Contrived endings. This speaks for itself. If a game has you questing/progressing for over 40+ hours and then shits itself in the end. It ruins the games replay value. Its not an excuse to have them shoe-horn in 'multiple' endings. God no. If a game is building to an explosive climax and then trails the words 'Thanks for Playing, see you next time' ( Looking at you Ultima) Then it should be burned at the stake.

Multiplayer:

1) People with no sense of 'Teamwork'. The main culprit of this that i see is LoL. (League of Legends). There are people that will see you going in for the kill, and walk up, use their ultimate ability, and take the kill. Which robs you of gold, experience and even Items. If you call them on it, they will say one of 3 things.
(1a)'What are you talking about?
(1b)'U mad bro?'
(1c)'Its just (bots or another player). Relax and STFU
I only mention that, because if you are in a group fight and mis click and take a kill, same person from taking your kill, will immediately flame you. Until the game ends. Now you can attribute it to chaos when there are 17+ things going on in the screen, but if i watch my mini map and see someone run up from their lane and take the kill by ulting and directly targeting my target, it tends to get old after awhile.

2) Campers that use cheap tactics as 'skill'. Mostly FPS and other games like this are where you can see the guilty parties. No. You are not elite by spamming grenade launchers or hiding in a corner sniping people. Try running around and engaging in shoot-outs. They are fun. People can laugh about how they were out of ammo and darting in for a 1v1 knife encounter. Nobody likes campers. NOBODY.

 

[Ryotknife]

the typical no-nos in video games:

horrible voice acting
bad camera
horrible controls
embarrassingly short

if i had to pick one? bad voice acting. oh god does it induce a state of rage in me. It is physically and mentally painful.

 

[Rheinmetall]

Difficult platform sections. It makes me instantly mad. Don't get me wrong, I love games like Tomb Raider, but I already know that difficult jumps are part of its game-play, afterall it's what TR is famous for, but don't throw on me a load of platforming in the middle of Metal Gear Solid 2.

 

[MajorTomServo]

Bad camera kills it more than anything for me. Also tutorial after tutorial after tutorial.

 

[babinro]

Steep Difficulty

- Metroid Prime 2 is an example of a game I really enjoyed but hit a wall.
- Ninja Gaiden as a current gen series is no good since I can't beat the first 1/8th of the games.
- Rock Band 3 Keyboard: Jumping from medium to hard was too much to stick with it.

The opposite can be a problem as well. I'd rather a game be to easy than to difficult since at least that way you can watch the story unfold.

 

[teebeeohh]

i don't really get the sands of time-zombie thing, the game was released in 2001(?), back when zombies were not an integral part of everything

bad cameras, bad PC ports(looking at you binary domain, WHY WOULD YOU NOT USE ENTER AND ESCAPE AS MENU BUTTONS), super obvious plot twists

 

[hermes]

Glitches. Not the visual ones, but the hard ones. The ones that force you to restart your console.

I was enjoying Fallout 3 until I run into a conversation that restarted my game. I tried it a couple times with the same result... At that point I put the game on the shelve and its been there ever since.