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[itisnotlogical]

No, really, we swear it's not a cutscene! You can walk along at a snail's pace while listening to an audio log, it's interactive storytelling!

[Neonivek]

Ugh, I hate the slow-walk expository bits too. I wish devs would cut that crap out.

And to think Dear Esther is 100% just that.

Stanley Parable I will give credit...

Dear Esther is just a book on tape with scenery to go by.

Which is a huge shame because a fraction of more effort could have went a long way to making the game a game... Just by... I dunno... Make the scenery actually important to the plot...

[Shadowlord]

Just think, if it was a VN, you wouldn't have had to do any walking~

[Egan_BW]

Ugh, I hate the slow-walk expository bits too. I wish devs would cut that crap out.

Would be fine if you could skip it, like every other cutscene.

[Rolan7]

Okay I haven't played or seen Gone Home or Dear Esther... somehow...
But I have played some tedious games with high-minded messages, and I wish they had been VN.
Want to tell a story with limited player interaction, but some?  There's a great set of mechanics for that already, and it's a lot less tedious.  It doesn't force the player to slow down and "soak in" the "atmosphere".

One of the neatest concepts to come out of Japan.

Stanley Parable definitely gets a pass, because it actually *uses* FPS mechanics as part of its message.  It just wouldn't work as a VN.

Edit:  And also, screw Assassin's Creed for its unskippable cutscenes.  They're great and all, but dammit I wanted to re-experience stabbing people you piece of

[Noyemi K]

Yeah I've been on a number of VN dev teams and I think it's a good delivery system for mandatory and thick narrative since it goes at the pace of your reading. I always turn voiceovers off when I play text-heavy RPGs or VNs.

[SealyStar]

Just think, if it was a VN, you wouldn't have had to do any walking~

The difference between a VN and Dear Esther is mainly what key you have to hold down to progress.

[Darkmere]

I don't know if this really, technically fits in here, but I'm getting sick of gamers as a whole. That has to do with gaming, right? Sure, why not.

It seems the signal to noise ratio for information regarding games and gameplay is getting pitifully low. I just checked three gaming communities I semi-regularly frequent and the results boil down to basically this:

A) Everyone who plays more than me is a no-lifer piece of shit.
B) Everyone who plays less than me is a casual noobtard. They haven't earned the right to have fun.
C) Something changed, therefore ruining X game FOREVAR!
D) Nothing changed in the past week. We have been abandoned, and must now turn on each other - blood for the blood god, whine for the whine throne!

The best one though... the universal comment I've seen everywhere at least fifteen times, is:

"I have no programming, development, or design skills whatsoever. But in my opinion it should be really easy to implement exactly what I want, by next week, or else."

If there was a way to strangle people through the internet, so help me...

Oh hey, here's another one:

Streaming Whores

Hey guys, I just dropped by this controversial topic to plug the hell out of my twitch channel! Drop by and we can chat about the game and whatever! Conversely, come watch my video detailing all the super-secret tips and tricks I read about somewhere else.

This video will, without fail, be at least 40% composed of intro and outro animation bumps and that "personality" begging me to subscribe to their channel. The other 60% is gonna be filler where they mumble through half a dozen people who "requested the video", followed by three sentences about what's actually going on. Cue long outro and begging for subscribers. Mega-bonus if a sponsored fansite plugs for Youtube McWhore on their news articles. Coz I REALLY wanted to spend 20 minutes digging through this crap for the 1 paragraph of information that could be done on a forum post with 2 screenshots. Assholes.

[Parsely]

It seems the signal to noise ratio for information regarding games and gameplay is getting pitifully low.

*implying that it hasn't always been this way*

Not that I'm trying to make it out like the things you mention aren't real or aren't stupid (I would argue that "C)" can sometimes actually be a big deal in some cases), because they are, but if you stop reading about things these people say and look for people who don't act like children your perceptions might actually change.

[Shadowlord]

"I have no programming, development, or design skills whatsoever. But in my opinion it should be really easy to implement exactly what I want, by next week, or else."

Can't you just tell the computer to create the game for you? I saw it on TV so it must be true! Also holodecks when!

But that entire post could have been written 15 years ago. It doesn't even have anyone complaining about people who throw thousands of dollars at pay to win games so that they can feel like a winner without having to "work for it" (e.g. grind) "like everyone else."

[Parsely]

But that entire post could have been written 15 years ago. It doesn't even have anyone complaining about people who throw thousands of dollars at pay to win games so that they can feel like a winner without having to "work for it" (e.g. grind) "like everyone else."

Anyone who pays to win and doesn't suffer through the game is a casual noobtard doesn't deserve to have fun. No seriously.

[Darkmere]

But that entire post could have been written 15 years ago. It doesn't even have anyone complaining about people who throw thousands of dollars at pay to win games so that they can feel like a winner without having to "work for it" (e.g. grind) "like everyone else."

Aaaaaaactually there's a back-and-forth with Grim Dawn where people who trade around duped archives of every item in the game will shout down people who play legit. It's like the twilight zone in there.

It seems the signal to noise ratio for information regarding games and gameplay is getting pitifully low.

*implying that it hasn't always been this way*

Not that I'm trying to make it out like the things you mention aren't real or aren't stupid (I would argue that C can sometimes actually be a big deal in some cases), because they are, but if you stop reading about things these people say and look for people who don't act like children your perceptions might actually change.

My whole problem is the disproportionate time it takes to sift past that crap and find sensible people for the games I follow. I grant you I don't follow really time-intensive games anymore, and mostly just needed to rant somewhere.

[NobodyPro]

After playing Pony Island I've got two more things:

1. Games that are clearly based on recently popular games.

Spoiler: Spoilers for Undertale (click to show/hide)

Imagine if Undertale was just the 'friendliness pellets' gag for 80 minutes and then you get the "Please uninstall the game" epilogue.

2. Games that overdo their effects to the point that I get a migraine.

[itisnotlogical]

Related to the above:

Artsy indie pixel garbage

This does NOT include indie games that just have a retro style, such as Undertale and Cave Story. I've refined my vitriol; I'm specifically talking about games like Pony Island, a million flash games that I can't think of in any specific detail, and POP: Methodology Experiment One in particular. They try (and often fail) to take you off-guard with crude *bit pixel garbage graphics, then spend the entire play time hitting you over the head with one of three messages, for there are only three in this kind of game:

1) hurr its a video game
2) hurr violence in pop culture
3) i have been recently dumped and this makes me sad

[Rose]

POP: Methodology Experiment One

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