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[majikero]

I'm pretty sure it's about bullet speed. Faster bullets gets destroyed on impact on the water surface. You have a better chance hitting someone underwater with a musket. Well, that's how I remember that episode.

[Cthulhu]

Missions where you "almost rescued your friend."

Max Payne 3 and, to a lesser extent, Borderlands 2. When your failure to rescue someone repeatedly is the excuse for 3 levels of gameplay, I want to kick the story writer in their testicles.

There was an old game where this was the entire storyline.

I can't remember the hero's name though, something Spanish-sounding maybe?

Also, traps that end up just being an HP tax.  The spike statues in Dark Souls.  Any trap where the effect is that you lose some HP and then keep going.  How hard would it be to, like, make a bear trap when there's a monster gonna getcha?  Or a buttont hat starts filling the room with water?  Of course then we have the problem that now the cat's out of the bag and a non-stupid player is going to avoid it every time he comes back.

[Shakerag]

Dialogue "Options".
This one has been around for a while, but giving the player completely meaningless dialogue choices. For instance, E.Y.E Divine Cybermancy offers the player this gem of a choice:
1) This is a great honor, but your time is up. [Kill them all]
2) The Secreta salutes you, vermin. [Kill them all]
3) Did you really think I would become one of you? [Kill them all]
Wow, what engaging roleplay. Even when it's not explicit it's masked very poorly. If any particular piece of player input is completely meaningless, can't we just skip it altogether instead of insulting my intelligence?

"Good morning, [your name]!  Are you ready to go visit Professor [tree]?"
>no
"Ha ha!  You must be joking!  Are you ready to go visit Professor [tree]?"
>no
"Ha ha!  You must be joking!  Are you ready to go visit Professor [tree]?"
>no
"Ha ha!  You must be joking!  Are you ready to go visit Professor [tree]?"
>no
etc...

[Krevsin]

Dialogue "Options".
This one has been around for a while, but giving the player completely meaningless dialogue choices. For instance, E.Y.E Divine Cybermancy offers the player this gem of a choice:
1) This is a great honor, but your time is up. [Kill them all]
2) The Secreta salutes you, vermin. [Kill them all]
3) Did you really think I would become one of you? [Kill them all]
Wow, what engaging roleplay. Even when it's not explicit it's masked very poorly. If any particular piece of player input is completely meaningless, can't we just skip it altogether instead of insulting my intelligence?

"Good morning, [your name]!  Are you ready to go visit Professor [tree]?"
>no
"Ha ha!  You must be joking!  Are you ready to go visit Professor [tree]?"
>no
"Ha ha!  You must be joking!  Are you ready to go visit Professor [tree]?"
>no
"Ha ha!  You must be joking!  Are you ready to go visit Professor [tree]?"
>no
etc...

Ah, the illusion of choice.

I hate that. Either give me a proper choice that affects the game, or don't bother giving me a redundant choice.

[Virex]

On a similar note:
Randomly punishing you with no way to prepare
Europe Universalis is really bad when it comes to this. Want to westernize as Ming? Comet. Want to declare war on your arch-rival now that he's weakened? Lol your king just died. oh and did I mention the next one has the stats of a sack of potatoes?

[Mech#4]

On a similar note:
Randomly punishing you with no way to prepare
Europe Universalis is really bad when it comes to this. Want to westernize as Ming? Comet. Want to declare war on your arch-rival now that he's weakened? Lol your king just died. oh and did I mention the next one has the stats of a sack of potatoes?

So high in starch and great perception?

It would be a testament to the game if they can make the decline of your empire just as fun as the escalation. I wonder how'd you go about doing that.

[Virex]

So high in starch and great perception?

No, considerably more useful baked then raw.

It would be a testament to the game if they can make the decline of your empire just as fun as the escalation. I wonder how'd you go about doing that.

The problem is that a lot of people build an emotional connection to their empire, since they "worked" hard to bring it that far. It's hard to break it all down without pissing said players off.

[Shadowlord]

If you settle for a single actor doing a lot of lines it's manageable, but then you get the Elder scroll issue where everyone sounds the same even if the NPC's are different. I'm thinking it will take gigantic advances in computer generated voices before this get better.

Unless you hire someone like Peter Sellers to do your voices. :3

[Tsuchigumo550]

I've always thought it wouldn't be too much to ask people who have worked on the game to provide stock voices- tie each voice to a certain model, or multiple voices to a model but keep it so that, when loaded, each one only has one set of lines...

Such as the art department, or anyone not currently super-busy. If I was working on a game and someone said "Hey, we need stock voices, interested in giving us a few lines? We're getting a bunch of people and the best ones will get in."

[Trif]

Cutscenes with the player character in them.
I don't want to watch my character do stuff, I want to do the stuff myself. Hiding player actions behind cutscenes just shows that the developers didn't trust the gameplay enough to get the point across.

[Cthulhu]

I've always thought it wouldn't be too much to ask people who have worked on the game to provide stock voices- tie each voice to a certain model, or multiple voices to a model but keep it so that, when loaded, each one only has one set of lines...

Such as the art department, or anyone not currently super-busy. If I was working on a game and someone said "Hey, we need stock voices, interested in giving us a few lines? We're getting a bunch of people and the best ones will get in."

Video games are pretty notoriously bad about handling real voice talent, you think getting random untrained people from the staff to do lines is gonna produce anything listenable?

[Drakale]

Stupid tech tree
Tech tree where the only upgrades is an incremental improvement of some technology. 10% more damage on your laser weapons is not a thrilling prospect, especially if it's the only upgrade path for said lasers. A proper tree should have hard decisions, like do I go for range over damage, efficient engines or fast ones etc.. Endless space probably have the lamest tech tree I have ever seen. Some of it come from the very simple combat mechanics, but the warfare part of the tree is absolutely pathetic.

And new technology should also be flavorful, not just statistics. The lame description in GalCiv for example where a big turn off.

[hector13]

I'm pretty sure it's about bullet speed. Faster bullets gets destroyed on impact on the water surface. You have a better chance hitting someone underwater with a musket. Well, that's how I remember that episode.

Essentially, that seemed to be the case.

But even then, the musket was 'survivable', by their calculations, in only 5 feet of water. Everything else just seemed break into bits. Including the massive .50 caliber rifle, which they had to borrow because it's illegal to own in California. Awesome sauce.

I considered another gaming peeve though, from when I couldn't bring myself to play Uncharted: enemies who don't react in a realistic manner when they get shot.

Admittedly, I've never been shot, but I am led to believe that it is a somewhat painful experience, so when I shoot someone, I don't think it's reasonable, let alone realistic, that they decide to indulge in mime.

"You just shot me, so I'll just use this non-existent wall to move over here! You just shot me again! I'll use that wall to move back again!"

[Neonivek]

Given I said the Surface tension of water deflecting bullets.

[Akura]

Make failure an option
I used to play the demo for Operation Flashpoint back before it came out. I loved that demo, and it only had one or two missions, and yet I remember one of them fondly. You and your squad drive up to a town in Malden and make a downhill assault into it, and then you prceed into the more densely structured area. After that your squad spots a tank column approaching and you have to retreat since you don't have the firepower to take them out. That is, if everything goes right. If all of your squad dies (es they can die, what a novel concept) then you radio to Papa Bear and they tell you to fall back while you can. The game does not abruptly end, you have to fight your way back out and retreat.
I believe there were also branching missions where failure to hold a town meant assaulting it in a later mission, that kind of thing.

Unfortunately, Operation Flashpoint didn't actually have that, to my knowledge.

Colony Wars, and CW:Vengence(but stay the hell away from CW:Red Sun) averted this pretty well, however. Failing a mission changes the mission paths you take, eventually effecting the ending you get. Fail too much, and you'll eventually lose the war(apparently, everything depended on you at all times).

Dialogue "Options".
This one has been around for a while, but giving the player completely meaningless dialogue choices. For instance, E.Y.E Divine Cybermancy offers the player this gem of a choice:
1) This is a great honor, but your time is up. [Kill them all]
2) The Secreta salutes you, vermin. [Kill them all]
3) Did you really think I would become one of you? [Kill them all]
Wow, what engaging roleplay. Even when it's not explicit it's masked very poorly. If any particular piece of player input is completely meaningless, can't we just skip it altogether instead of insulting my intelligence?

"Good morning, [your name]!  Are you ready to go visit Professor [tree]?"
>no
"Ha ha!  You must be joking!  Are you ready to go visit Professor [tree]?"
>no
"Ha ha!  You must be joking!  Are you ready to go visit Professor [tree]?"
>no
"Ha ha!  You must be joking!  Are you ready to go visit Professor [tree]?"
>no
etc...

"Dost thou love me?"
>No.
"But thou must."
"Dost thou love me?"
etc...

Clearly, the only reason you killed that dragon is because you love the girl you meet five seconds after killing it(and only if you happen to have a spare key).