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[LeoLeonardoIII]

Also at this point there's no excuse for a game to not have options like subtitles, separate volume controls for different types of sound, etc. I can play a game that has a sparse options menu, but when there are a ton I feel like the game is able to accommodate me instead of the other way around.

[loose nut]

Okay, here's one that gets to me.

The ability to custom-name your character/unit/whatever, but it's character-limited. To, like, 8 or 12 characters as if it's a fucking NES game. IT IS THE YEAR 2013 AND YOUR SAVE FILE IS 120 MB, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET ME NAME MY GUY.

* ahem *

[darkrider2]

Alas poor GayMan McPoopLord will never come to be.

*cough*

Bullet Trails

This annoys me, getting shot and then just looking at this rendered line in the air that leads me right to the shooter. It wouldn't annoy me if it weren't in games that also try to give players stealth options like suppressor/flash suppressor (I'm looking at you planetside 2, suppressing the muzzle flash when every round is a tracer round, genius).

[PrimusRibbus]

(I'm looking at you planetside 2, suppressing the muzzle flash when every round is a tracer round, genius).

That design makes a lot of sense for high-level outfit-vs-outfit play in PS2.

The best snipers in PS2 one-shot people and make sure that no one in the target area ever sees the bullet trail. The bullet trail is designed to penalize CoD-style snipers who can't make clean kills and just sit on a rock spamming bullets. The best counter-snipers in PS2 provide overwatch and are looking for muzzle flashes not bullet trails, since it's much easier to judge the origin of a muzzle flash when you're observing from an off-center angle 700 meters out.

[itisnotlogical]

Playing dirty with game mechanics

In one mission in Perfect Dark, there are FBI agents placed around the level that can sic revolver-wielding elite guards on you, after which they will draw their own weapon. They're counted as enemies, not civilians, but you still can't auto-target them until after they've finished their radio call and pulled out their gun. As anybody who's played a FPS on the N64 knows, it's incredibly frustrating to manually draw a bead on an enemy with an extremely strict time limit.

[mastahcheese]

Playing dirty with game mechanics

In one mission in Perfect Dark, there are FBI agents placed around the level that can sic revolver-wielding elite guards on you, after which they will draw their own weapon. They're counted as enemies, not civilians, but you still can't auto-target them until after they've finished their radio call and pulled out their gun. As anybody who's played a FPS on the N64 knows, it's incredibly frustrating to manually draw a bead on an enemy with an extremely strict time limit.

I played enough of those games that didn't have auto-targeting that I was used to it.

[Mech#4]

Playing dirty with game mechanics

In one mission in Perfect Dark, there are FBI agents placed around the level that can sic revolver-wielding elite guards on you, after which they will draw their own weapon. They're counted as enemies, not civilians, but you still can't auto-target them until after they've finished their radio call and pulled out their gun. As anybody who's played a FPS on the N64 knows, it's incredibly frustrating to manually draw a bead on an enemy with an extremely strict time limit.

I played enough of those games that didn't have auto-targeting that I was used to it.

Playing Goldeneye with friends? Did someone always pitch Oddjob vs Jaws?

[mastahcheese]

Playing dirty with game mechanics

In one mission in Perfect Dark, there are FBI agents placed around the level that can sic revolver-wielding elite guards on you, after which they will draw their own weapon. They're counted as enemies, not civilians, but you still can't auto-target them until after they've finished their radio call and pulled out their gun. As anybody who's played a FPS on the N64 knows, it's incredibly frustrating to manually draw a bead on an enemy with an extremely strict time limit.

I played enough of those games that didn't have auto-targeting that I was used to it.

Playing Goldeneye with friends? Did someone always pitch Oddjob vs Jaws?

Playing Goldeneye when my friend forgot to turn of his Gameshark cheats.
So he had a golden gun with limitless ammo that did one-shot kills, I didn't.

[Darkmere]

Playing dirty with game mechanics

In one mission in Perfect Dark, there are FBI agents placed around the level that can sic revolver-wielding elite guards on you, after which they will draw their own weapon. They're counted as enemies, not civilians, but you still can't auto-target them until after they've finished their radio call and pulled out their gun. As anybody who's played a FPS on the N64 knows, it's incredibly frustrating to manually draw a bead on an enemy with an extremely strict time limit.

Blah, yeah I remember the script-kills in Honest Hearts (Fallout new Vegas DLC) where no matter how fast you were the whole group you were escorting got killed no matter what. Because the enemies were completely immune to bullets for a good 5 or 6 seconds while they slaughtered the group you were "guarding".

I'd like to add on the flipside there:
Completely disregarding established mechanics
Yeah all the enemies after Dead Money had their armor values cranked up a bit to bump difficulty. That's fine. However... part of the game's difficulty settings already multiplied armor values. This led to tribals in fur loincloths having kevlar vest armor values, or even better... the robo-scorpions being immune to .50 cal armor piercing rounds, on the top difficulty (their armor was bumped, and the difficulty multiplier put their armor threshold OVER the top armor piercing round's value. Every conventional weapon did scratch damage, no matter what).

[Jopax]

Animations in recent RTS games.

Biggest offender being the new Generals and to some extent RA3. What I mean specifically is vehicle animations. Since they seem to have extra money and time they can make them better and cooler looking. To most of them this simply means MAKE EVERY VEHICLE RUMBLE AND SHAKE!!!!
Now, in certain cases this isn't so bad most of the time if the effect is downplayed so it looks like it's going over rough terrain or something, or if it fits the style of the game, like it did in RA3, which was cartoonish in design and the rumbling and shaking tanks looked like toys, very cute overall.
Getting back to Generals 2, we have the same deal with some of the vehicles, and it's simply jarring, you have this ultra realistic style and graphical execution, but most of your vehicles are shaking like they have Parkinsons or something, it's stupid and breaks any and all immersion.

[EnigmaticHat]

Completely disregarding established mechanics
Yeah all the enemies after Dead Money had their armor values cranked up a bit to bump difficulty. That's fine. However... part of the game's difficulty settings already multiplied armor values. This led to tribals in fur loincloths having kevlar vest armor values, or even better... the robo-scorpions being immune to .50 cal armor piercing rounds, on the top difficulty (their armor was bumped, and the difficulty multiplier put their armor threshold OVER the top armor piercing round's value. Every conventional weapon did scratch damage, no matter what).

My "favorite" instance of this was was when Witcher 2 had you face a mutant with very similar abilities to you... but in gameplay mechanics they worked to totally differently, so nothing you'd learned helped you with the fight.  For example, you both have bombs.  But he can block your bombs with his sword, while not only can you not block his, but they ignore your resistances!

[HonkyPunch]

Gameplay and narrative dissonance. This may never be truly alleviated, I feel.

It's just such a stupid way to progress the plot, but i understand why it's nessecary.

Example being: You fucking ruin a boss in a battle, because you did a ton of grinding or something. But no. He ignores your one hit kill, stops the fight, and basically just trips you, completely disabling you. This shit happens SO much in JRPGs. I still love most games, but it's still utterly frustrating..

[Mech#4]

Completely disregarding established mechanics
Yeah all the enemies after Dead Money had their armor values cranked up a bit to bump difficulty. That's fine. However... part of the game's difficulty settings already multiplied armor values. This led to tribals in fur loincloths having kevlar vest armor values, or even better... the robo-scorpions being immune to .50 cal armor piercing rounds, on the top difficulty (their armor was bumped, and the difficulty multiplier put their armor threshold OVER the top armor piercing round's value. Every conventional weapon did scratch damage, no matter what).

My "favorite" instance of this was was when Witcher 2 had you face a mutant with very similar abilities to you... but in gameplay mechanics they worked to totally differently, so nothing you'd learned helped you with the fight.  For example, you both have bombs.  But he can block your bombs with his sword, while not only can you not block his, but they ignore your resistances!

It's like the boss fights in Deus Ex: Human Revolutions. That first one who throws grenades made ne sit in a corner trying to shoot his foot since I was a sneaky type.

The Witcher was going an interesting way with it's ointments and such I think. Having to plan your tactics and requirements, read the environment and any signs left by monsters before you engage them could make for an entertaining game. Not doing so would make taking on things like Ghouls a foolhardy task if you didn't anoint your blade with necrophage oil beforehand, or find where they retreat to, to prevent them from regenerating. The whole process of having to piece together folktales and scraps of lore to discover a monsters weakness (and not necessarily being told when you've discovered it) would be quite enthralling.

[Catastrophic lolcats]

The first Witcher did the whole "Witcher work" thing a whole lot better I found. For a start there was a lot more environmental indication of what you were going to face and there were pretty clear areas where you were meant to sit down and start applying potions and oils. You could also talk to people who will give you information and lore about the monsters of the surrounding areas and to even get drops you had to sit down and read about the monsters thus forcing you to learn their weaknesses.

Witcher 2 had a nasty habit of throwing you into long corridor like areas, which while pretty, were extremely visually cluttered and seemed to lack good clues about what you are going to face. The game was also much more action focused and with the potion making ability almost completely locked behind an (inferior) skill set it really lacked the knowledgeable oil/potion use of the first.

Hopefully the Witcher 3 will be able to merge the best parts of both game and make a very compelling game where monster hunting is actually a very fun, interesting and tactical experience. Open world seems like it would be very suitable for "witcher work" and combined with some light randomisation could make a lot of replayability. Removing advanced potion/oil crafting out of a skill set and rather being focused on finding ingredients and recipes would be the logical first step.

[NullForceOmega]

Open world RPGs with too little sandbox and too little story
Seriously, if you are going to build a sandbox build a sandbox, if you are going to tell a story tell a story, don't hand me an 'open world' with nothing to do.  Bethesda is probably the worst offender by far, Morrowind okay, lots to see and do, Oblivion... not so much.  Haven't played Skyrim yet, and until the price becomes reasonable for it's age I won't.  Bioware is guilty of this crime too, Dragon age?  Big huge map, nothing to see or do.  Mass Effect series?  Whole damn galaxy, nothing to see, nothing to do (I completed Mass Effect 1 to 100% in 12 hours, what the fuck did I pay you assholes for? I could have rented but you promised a huge adventure. $60 gone.)