Even though we all love playing videogames and a fantastic new release can cure just about any type of blues for us, there are some videogame “features” that we see way too often and can be extremely annoying to some gamers. I’ve been thinking a lot about the state the gaming industry is in at the moment and specifically, about those annoying features that might not ruin a good game, but they sure put a damper on things. Sometimes, these annoying features are hard to overlook and if a game isn’t spectacular, but still has some or all of them, it could easily get an even worse reception. So, let’s discuss these features in videogames that could be seriously annoying.
The continued rise of Loot Boxes
Love them or hate them (probably the latter), Loot Boxes are part of gaming now and it is hard to see how it will ever slow down. In some games, Loot Boxes just provide cosmetic items, like Overwatch, while in others, they can be considered pay-to-win. Even so, it is another way for developers to make money and provide players will cool cosmetics and in some cases, advantages in the game they are playing.
One example is Shadow of War, where Loot Boxes can make the end game grind a lot easier. I wouldn’t exactly call it pay-to-win, but rather pay-to-progress-faster and it is, of course, a single player game. Even so, is it fair for developers to charge extra to progress faster on top of a AAA price tag? In my opinion, no, it is not, and seeing Loot Boxes in almost every new game quite honestly makes me a little bit disappointed in the gaming industry at the moment.
Meaningless side quests
Here doggy, fetch this! There are so many open world games on the market and even more to come in the next few years, but for the most part, there are some many meaningless, “go fetch 10 of these” quests to bolster the content that I can’t help but feel like a dog while playing through them. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all open world games that have this problem.
There are games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that has excellent side quests that could be their own small game. However, most of the open world games still have these terrible side quests that have no substance and offer very little apart from some rewards you will out level in a very short period of time.
Developers should take note of games like The Witcher 3 and make side quests more intriguing because as it stands, most games’ side quests feel like they are nothing more than an easy way to fill in a content gap, which is no good in my opinion. It is, simply put, an annoying “feature”.
Always-Online, always!
There is nothing wrong with having to be online when playing a multiplayer game, that is a given. However, when it comes to single-player titles, always online simply shouldn’t be a thing. Sure, there are multiple reasons having a game with an always online requirement, from protecting against piracy to simply creating a better experience the developer has envisioned.
Even so, some games that you can and should be able to play on your own do have an always-online requirement. It was one of the only things I didn’t like about Diablo III (especially when Error 37 kicked in at launch), as the previous two entries into the series had offline modes. Then, another big example is that of Fallout 76.
But why is always online such an issue, you might ask while reading this article via your stable internet connection. The answer is simple: because not everyone has access to a stable internet connection, it is extremely annoying when you are playing a game on your own, just doing some quests in a campaign and then suddenly your internet drops. The aftermath of a disconnect might mean a loss of progress, which really shouldn’t happen in a single player experience at all.
The grind is real
Ah, the grind. We have all felt it at some point during our gaming sessions, be it while playing World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 or even single player games like Shadow of War. Grinding could be seen as a way to bolster the number of hours required to complete a game, and sometimes that is absolutely fine, especially if a game’s combat system is extremely fun.
Even so, it sometimes feels like work to do the same things over and over again in, for example, Destiny 2, just to hit that Power Level requirement to unlock something new to do.Then, it becomes a rinse and repeat process until content runs out and you are at your maximum character level. Although I am not addicted to World of Warcraft anymore and officially stopped playing it last year, I can still remember the grind, be it while maxing out professions or doing dungeons over and over again to get better gear, just so I could enter a Raid and do that Raid over and over again for better gear.
It sometimes feels like an endless cycle that does mean you will play a game for a tonne of extra hours just to get to the “good stuff”, but is it really worth it and is it really the best way for developers to lengthen players’ gameplay time?
So, there you have it, the videogame “features” I find to be the most annoying, but that we continue to see each year in a tonne of titles. Which videogame features annoying you the most? Share some rants with us in the comment section below.
