I mean, that’s what being a gamer is. You know the tropes.
You know someone should know them as well. So they surely can and will apply them.
And you sure as fuck ain’t letting another gamer get the upper hand on you, we don’t do that here
This is the exact same instinct that drives us to run away from the obvious path first. “Clearly that’s where the final boss is. Let me just check what’s down this way first…”
“…oh no wait, there’s a point-of-no-return ledge here. Ok, so maybe that other way was actually where the secret was. I’ll go back…”
“…hmm, there’s another ledge on this side too. Let me just put in a save point and…ok, yeah, this one is the final boss. Let me reload and check the other path…”
“…ugh, it restarted me way back here? And respawned all the enemies when I reloaded? That’s frustrating…”
“…THEY BOTH. LED. TO THE SAME. EXACT. PLACE.”
In Breath of the Wild after the tutorial plateau, players are supposed to go between the two big mountains that are easy to see and easy to pass for a beginner. There they find a steed and this weird korok guy.
I on the other hand decided to go the direct route up a steep cliff where two guardians wait to tell you that this is not the way. After I snuck past them, which took me about 2 hours and like 20+ retries, I nearly stopped playing cause “the game was so hard”.
I have a bachelor in have design btw…There’s an old adage that says “doctors make the worst patients.”
I wonder if the same is true for game devs making the worst players.
I have a bachelor in game design btw…
This is why I like saying “average person” when I talk about specific topics.
People who study the art are much more attuned and go out of the ordinary. Like directors when they watch movies.
Accidentally going the right way is so infuriating.
Especially if you get too far and the game takes control of your character to start a cutscene before you can turn back around.
WTF I don’t come here to be attacked like this
It’s ok. We’re all here for each other.
No we’re not. You two are on your own.
Modern games have gotten super “hand-holdy” to the point where it’s fucking annoying… but one QOL improvement that I will take every time is when games prevent you from moving forward in a story because you missed something and moving forward means you’ll miss it forever.
I get it, and when I was younger I was all about that shit… But I’m too old for that shit lol
“But what if the developers don’t think it’s important but I’m going to wish I had it? I’ll go ahead and check anyway.”
I still remember being really mad I missed the “added effect” materia in the original FF7. You can never ever go back to that cave, so if you don’t turn around to pick it up you never get it. Pain.
This is why I have 120 hours in 40 hour games.
This, plus looking at a tiny little toe-sized piece of unexplored minimap on the opposite side of the world and thinking, “but what if there’s something important there?!”
This, plus dragging every scrap of loot back to town to sell, no matter how bad the value/weight ratio is.
Oh this one’s not me. For the first hour maybe but I get really picky really fast because it’s more efficient to just find a new place to take the best loot from. Especially in something like Skyrim where the goons just respawn forever.
Borderlands 3 added an “auto-sell loot below [x] rarity” option, and it is amazing.
Only in games that make it clear what you’re supposed to sell. I know games these days usually don’t allow it, but all it takes is selling a necessary item once…
this is the first time I realize where that sentence comes from. jumped ship from Facebook so long ago I didn’t even know this was a thing
…during the bg3 character creation
I play games this way too, but I feel like the bigger factor in my playtime way higher than necessary is that I don’t want to miss any dialogue so I talk to every NPC until they repeat themselves. Most of the time that’s the second time you talk to them so I definitely get a lot out of that.
Yeah… I felt that. Hard. I need to actively tell myself it’s not worth wasting so much time. Other times I just can’t be bothered and I mindlessly waste time checking everything cause it somehow feels like less work.
Doom 2
I always try to figure out which direction the game wants me to go so I can try going the opposite way first.
I mean, we can’t risk advancing the game and leaving unexplored areas behind
It’s almost frustrating to play something with no intended path because it takes away my option to deliberately take the wrong one.
There usually is an intended path regardless. Signposting is definitely something that’s done even in open world.
New Vegas shining brightly in the distance…
And that’s how I ended up at level 30 before finally taking out Benny… main quest, main… schmuest.
It’s not always explained though. A lot of games use flames/torches/lights though. Vast majority of games follow the same tropes unfortunately.
Lego Star Wars instilled this as well as leaps of faith
Donkey Kong Country…
Replayed it the other week, soo many levels start this way
Some of the skips are so fun, I love the cannon canyon level for it.
This is the one.
There is another.
If I recall, DKC also had a secret INSIDE a secret.
I was following a strategy guide to get the last bits of secret and that one was a pain in the buttholes.
How about that roller coaster race level on DKC2? If you don’t go backwards as soon as the race starts, you miss that sweet speed boost.
Every single waterfall I find I must check behind it, forever.
Yeah, it’s all about waterfalls. And, I like it because a cave behind a waterfall makes some sense. It would be hard to see, but it’s not a solid barrier.
I still get irrationally upset when there isn’t. But, if a game gives me a waterfall find (or 2, or 3 like Avowed) it will rocket to the top of my list.
Lived in a place that had a koi pond and waterfall fountain years ago. I placed a small adventurer and treasure chest behind it. Wonder if it’s still there.
I really love that you did that. I hope some kid (or an adult that’s a kid at heart) found it! Imagine how stoked they were!
I hope so too!
Go play tunic!
B^U
Ngl, I’m kinda surprised ol’ B^Uckley is still doing comics
What, like he has other useful skills?
For me it’s waterfalls - have to check behind every single one for a hidden cave.
This has proven to be problematic in real life, like when I visited Niagara…
There are tours that take you behind the falls near the turbines. Or at least used to be.
Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to.
And then the movie adaptation of Ready Player One acted like placing something before the starting line is some kind of super-sneaky hiding method.
I look at that less as a plot point and more as a nod to video game design. I really liked that movie.
That movie was a cringe fest start to end.
I didn’t know Jeff Buckley’s father also draws cartoons 🤭
Note: Your character is highly unlikely to “Whump” into the left side obstacle. They are more likely to do the Michael Jackson standing walking in place motion while you try probing the left side for openings and weaknesses.
Credit to Tim Buckley for briefly becoming one of the most widely mocked people on the internet and spawning a meme that lives on to this day but just rolling with it and continuing with his dream of making webcomics.
Iirc correctly there was something about somewhat scamming his patreons or so. Ny memory is hazy but something about a drawing tablet?
Ah well if true then that sucks. I’ll have to look into this.
He tried to discourage people from going to a penny arcade convention and to his instead, didn’t donate to charity like he said he would and bought a 3k artist tablet instead, iirc.
Credit for Tim Buckley for being the father of one of the greatest vocalists in history, Jeff Buckley (RIP).
Err… wait…
Bonus points for your appropriate username
That’s why I find idea that in Ready Player One no gamer tried running a car backward offensive.
The book had a much better story for the first key.
I mean, how did he have the foresight to know that almost everyone would go to school inside his videogame?
He didnt, the intent was to put it somewhere that everyone could and should access, a place of learning. No gatekeeping, no financial or age restrictions.
Actually not that unprecedented https://youtu.be/gPagHHIfvlg
There’s a little explanation in that it costs to get in to the race. So naturally people wouldn’t want to waste the attempt, except there’s always someone that will pay the fee and try just about anything.
except there’s always someone that will pay the fee and try just about anything.
Especially when the prize is that big.
That might buy you a few days, but not the absurd amount of time in the story.
Its like, people rub against every square inch of geometry in say, Destiny 2, just to get out of bounds. It’s insane that no one just…tried cause they’re bored even.
I always remember back in world of warcraft, before you had flying mounts, there were spots you could spam jump on to slowly climb the barrier mountains and get up to the flat area they never meant for you to see. Good times.
or getting under stormwind, haha. good times.
I was a frequent flyer in mod chat because I got stuck out of bounds a lot back in the day.
Or old 3D platformers that didn’t disable collision on visual detail bits, so you could do skips or get out of bounds.
