The most useless mechanic.

[YonusBahtzee]

What do you think is the most useless or annoying gameplay mechanic you've ever seen in a game. I really hated how the Badass Lancers worked in Borderlands. You kill them, think everything is safe (Because you fucking killed him and killing an enemy is usually an indication of safety), walk near his dead body to see what he dropped and boom. His back pack thing blew up. Now there's no enemies around you to get a second wind with so you have to die and walk aaallllll the way back to where you were at.

it's fucking stupid.

[WahyaRanger2]

The fact that they added a faceplant mechanic in GTAV.

Useless, but hilarious, I admit

[Painbringer]

The "fog of war" in Warcraft II.

Unlike in Starcraft, it is completely optional.

It makes the game more challenging, but there are no bonus points for using it.

It also makes finding (and killing) the last enemy unit (a requirement for winning most levels) that much more difficult.

But at least you can turn it off and on whenever you like.

[TOXlCITY]

Attacking in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

[ClockworkCopper]

At 7/13/16 03:26 PM, SolidPantsSnake wrote: I really love it when games give you tons of customization options, and lock them all behind pointless shit.

If you are going to allow me to customize then I should be able to do so right from the start of the game. It's just a lazy excuse to pad the game out. In those types of games by the time I unlock all the shit I want I have like an hour of gameplay left or nothing left to do.

Are you talking about MGSV? I remember unlocking gun customization super super late in that game. By the time I was able to do it I had already developed almost all the different weapon combinations I wanted.

[LaserVision]

The option to pick up fruits and observe them in Shenmue. Even though it's a cool minor detail that I actually admire, it doesn't really affect the gameplay .

[Mace121]

Collision detection from Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing. There is none.

[YonusBahtzee]

At 7/13/16 09:18 PM, BonemanCharles wrote: its one of these topics that I could go into great detail about game design, but im running a blank right now
fuck

I fucking hate that.

[Oddlem]

Quicktime events. It's just lazy more often than not.

[YonusBahtzee]

At 7/13/16 11:38 PM, Oddlem wrote: Quicktime events. It's just lazy more often than not.

Yeah. I've never cared for quick time events either.

[Mismo]

I don't know if this fixable by just rearranging the button configuration since I don't actually own the game and thus can't find out, but when I got to play Fallout 4 for a bit at a friends place I was little mindboggled as to why they thought it would be a good idea to the melee and grenade button to the same fucking button. I get that wanted smoother gameplay and all that jazz but it is really infuriating when you're in the heat of battle and are trying to throw a grenade at an enemey for your character to do nothing but pistol whip the air in front of him.

Heavy Rain is an awful game in many regards but what it's most guilty is not just having overly long QTE scenes that drag on for ever but QTE scenes that requires to sometime to actually play with your fucking face. Sometimes in the game you're required to hold down multiple buttons. Generally as gamer you can hold two buttons at the same without trouble maybe three. But up to four and five!? Fuck you David Cage just because you are a failed film director doesn't mean you should infect video gaming with your cancer.

[Radaketor]

At 7/14/16 12:26 AM, YonusBahtzee wrote:

At 7/13/16 11:38 PM, Oddlem wrote: Quicktime events. It's just lazy more often than not.

Yeah. I've never cared for quick time events either.

Try Heavy Rain, it's one example of quicktime events done right. The whole game is a quicktime event.

[YonusBahtzee]

At 7/18/16 12:47 PM, Radaketor wrote:

At 7/14/16 12:26 AM, YonusBahtzee wrote:

At 7/13/16 11:38 PM, Oddlem wrote: Quicktime events. It's just lazy more often than not.

Yeah. I've never cared for quick time events either.

Try Heavy Rain, it's one example of quicktime events done right. The whole game is a quicktime event.

Heavy Rain isn't a game. It's a movie.

Jason!

[Absurd-Ditties]

The quick dodge in Resident Evil 3.

It's so unreliable it isn't worth using. You can't predict which way Jill will dodge, and it's super finicky as to whether it'll activate at all. It's done by drawing your gun, or trying to fire your gun if it's already drawn, just before you get hit. Half the time she'll just end up firing off a round instead, and the other half of the time she'll dodge into the path of the attack anyway.

[YonusBahtzee]

At 7/18/16 04:04 PM, TheMaster wrote: The quick dodge in Resident Evil 3.

It's so unreliable it isn't worth using. You can't predict which way Jill will dodge, and it's super finicky as to whether it'll activate at all. It's done by drawing your gun, or trying to fire your gun if it's already drawn, just before you get hit. Half the time she'll just end up firing off a round instead, and the other half of the time she'll dodge into the path of the attack anyway.

Wait a minute. So, the button you use to fire your gun is the same button you use to dodge? That's fucking stupid.

[Absurd-Ditties]

At 7/18/16 04:57 PM, YonusBahtzee wrote: Wait a minute. So, the button you use to fire your gun is the same button you use to dodge? That's fucking stupid.

If you're currently aiming, yes. If you're not aiming it's the button you use to draw the gun.

It's worthless, and when you accidentally do it can often leave you worse off than you'd have been if you just fired.

For example, the best way to fight dogs in Resident Evil games is to keep them all in front of you, then just shoot them as they run at you, as one bullet knocks them back and to the ground. Repeat until they're all dead.

But if one gets close and the game decides to quick dodge, instead of firing the pistol and launching the dog back across the room, keeping it on the same side of you as all the others, Jill will dodge to one side. Now you've got one dog behind you, and can't just keep them all pinned down by timing your shots right, and will probably take damage.

[Big-Boss]

At 7/13/16 10:05 PM, dem0lecule wrote: The pooping option in Far Cry. Not even DayZ added it.

Lol what?

[Big-Boss]

At 7/18/16 07:31 PM, dem0lecule wrote:

At 7/18/16 07:10 PM, DeftonesFan665 wrote:

At 7/13/16 10:05 PM, dem0lecule wrote: The pooping option in Far Cry. Not even DayZ added it.

Lol what?

the original Far Cry (by Crytek) had pooping option in the game. First game ever that did it. Still the only one.

There's another game that allows you to poop, but I can't remember the name for the life of me...

[sephiroth4312]

Escort Quests. Especially when they program the thing you're guarding to attack any enemy in range...

[Swag-in-a-Bag]

I recall Metal Gear Solid 2 having "Cigs" that Snake could smoke, but all it did was slowly drain your health bar. I guess this was some kind of joke the devs. added to show the dangers of tobacco.

Also EA sports is notorious for adding useless features, such as in most of the Fight Night series; they kept adding 'Total Punch Control' which forced you to swing the analog stick it the motion of an actual punch; only problem was 9/10 the boxer would throw the WRONG punch, and even "weave" unintentionally since it used the same analog stick that you thow punches with, to 'weave'...smh

[Jackho]

At 8/2/16 12:03 AM, Swag-in-a-Bag wrote: I recall Metal Gear Solid 2 having "Cigs" that Snake could smoke, but all it did was slowly drain your health bar. I guess this was some kind of joke the devs

In MGS 1 and 2 the cigarette's smoke was used to to reveal infrared sensors (which often triggered explosives in 2), and later in 4 they would restore Snake's mental gauge. In MGS3 Snake smoked cigars which would ward off bees and could be used to burn leeches attached to you. I think in the first game you could also use the smell of cigarette smoke to distract guards and lead them away from their posts. You can't have an item in a Kojima game without a weird level of functionality to go with it.

At 7/13/16 10:05 PM, dem0lecule wrote: The pooping option in Far Cry. Not even DayZ added it.

I must have played through Far Cry at least five times, and I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. You must be thinking of a different game.

At 7/18/16 04:52 AM, Luigee wrote: i got to play Fallout 4 for a bit at a friends place I was little mindboggled as to why they thought it would be a good idea to the melee and grenade button to the same fucking button. I get that wanted smoother gameplay and all that jazz but it is really infuriating when you're in the heat of battle and are trying to throw a grenade at an enemey for your character to do nothing but pistol whip the air in front of him

Now here's some real bullshit. What you've described isn't even half as bad as when you want to melee someone and instead kill yourself with a frag mine or light your friends on fire with a molotov. It's such a stupid design choice and I usually just never equip throwable weapons because of it. What's maddening is that Bethesda have always been good with allowing full control remapping on console, but here even on PC there's no default option to separate the melee and grenade button, so your two most fundamentally different acrions are forcefully tied to the same input.

At 7/13/16 10:44 PM, DELUCA2400 wrote: Swimming in Deus Ex

^ this lad gets it

At 7/13/16 05:58 PM, Valjylmyr wrote: Are you talking about MGSV? I remember unlocking gun customization super super late in that game. By the time I was able to do it I had already developed almost all the different weapon combinations I wanted.

The gunsmith side op actually becomes available around mission 13 (of 50), you must have just missed it. The vast majority of my time in MGSV was done with all custom built weapons and I loved that feature. I just wish they'd cut out the garbage and focused on the building mechanic entirely, developing new parts individually rather than developing hundreds of guns that are straight up useless from the moment you get them and would only have punished you if you did go out of your way to use them all. My biggest gripe is in not having nearly enough non lethal weapons and parts for them, and in bizarrely having to carry a hip weapon at all times.

[Swag-in-a-Bag]

At 8/2/16 02:44 AM, Jackho wrote:

At 8/2/16 12:03 AM, Swag-in-a-Bag wrote: I recall Metal Gear Solid 2 having "Cigs" that Snake could smoke, but all it did was slowly drain your health bar. I guess this was some kind of joke the devs

In MGS 1 and 2 the cigarette's smoke was used to to reveal infrared sensors (which often triggered explosives in 2), and later in 4 they would restore Snake's mental gauge. In MGS3 Snake smoked cigars which would ward off bees and could be used to burn leeches attached to you. I think in the first game you could also use the smell of cigarette smoke to distract guards and lead them away from their posts. You can't have an item in a Kojima game without a weird level of functionality to go with it.

Hmm,that's interesting, I kinda thought they might have had something to do with revealing the infared beams; but i also recall there always being a fire extinguisher being conveniently placed by bombs, so it made more sense to explode the hydrant than to lose a fraction of health. Thanx for letting me know tho, cuz i only ever payed MGS2

[Chdonga]

The slow-motion and speedup ability in Sly Cooper & the Thevius Raccoonus.

The slow-mo would slow you down and the speedup would make the enemies faster.

[Jackho]

At 8/2/16 08:07 AM, Swag-in-a-Bag wrote: Thanx for letting me know tho, cuz i only ever payed MGS2

1 and 3 are well worth playing if you have any interest. 2 doesn't really work without the first game either.

At 8/2/16 10:19 AM, dem0lecule wrote: it's more of a hidden mechanism.

http://insert-coin.com/far-cry-primal-redefines-experience-of-being-attacked-by-a-tiger-while-trying-to-take-a-shit/

Not gonna say you're making shit up, but firstly that's for Far Cry Primal - the newest game, not the first one, and secondly Insert-Coin is a comedy/satire website like The Onion. Their articles aren't real. "Ensuring the accuracy of our poop-murder simulator has required us to make concessions in other areas... namely in the areas of combat and storyline, we've actually got rid of all of that entirely..."

[macrochasm]

Fable 2 had this idiotic mechanic where when you travel from one part of the game world to another several Days/hours pass.This means going from a town to the woods can take several days.A weeks can pass if you go from one town to another even though you only walked for 10-15 minutes.

[Painbringer]

I can't believe I forgot about this...

The Firestorm Wall in Tiberian Sun:

Not only does it require a lot of power to install, but once activated, you only get a few seconds to use it, before having to wait for it to recharge.

What's worse, is that the enemy AI gets to have it on indefinitely - Kind of like the way it would work if it actually existed in the real world.

[DrunkGecko]

crouching in super mario 64

[Shellheart]

The ability to roll in Spyro 1 doesn't really serve much of a purpose (though it is fun). Probably why the original Spyro 2 and 3 games removed it altogether.

[LackOfInconsistencY]

One word: Tutorials.

More specifically, Tutorial boxes that stop you until you read the whole thing plus you can't skip them right away.

[Hive-Hunter]