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[Eddy]

I was on another site and the topic of gaming trends came up. I made one of my legendary long posts and I thought it might generate discussion.

Game trends I don't like.

I'll also go with graphics over gameplay. I'm an old-school gamer and some of my favorite games have been mentioned already.

Civ 1, Civ 2, Railroad Tycoon, Covert Action, Pharaoh, Tropico, Geneforge, Oasis, Tradewinds 2, Tradewinds Legends, Tropix, Simcity 1-3, Strange Adventures in Infinite Space, Weird Worlds, Jones in the Fast Lane, Caesar series, Colonization, Darklands, Imperialism, Master of Magic, Master of Orion, Galactic Civilizations 2, Oregon Trail, Where is Carmen San Diego, are just some examples. They aren't visual stunners even in their day, but they all are replayable. The fact some are 15 years old says something.

Games that require an iron man mindset. I don't want to sit for six hours straight to beat a level. I'm a casual player who plays a game for a bit, then plays something else. I want save points, a game that is fairly easy to learn, and most importantly, doesn't frustrate me.

Real time strategy. These are great if you are 14 and have nothing else to do, and can sit for hours clicking mindlessly, but I like to sit and contemplate my next move. I also have real life concerns to attend to. If the doorbell rings, I'd like to be able to answer it without dying.

Copy protection. It's more and more intrusive and is to the point where it can actually cause system problems. I bought the game. Let me play it in a convenient manner. It's pretty sad when I buy something out of the box and it doesn't work and the manufacturer themselves say it's the protection they made. Besides, copy protection doesn't work. I once "previewed" a game that was out for less than three hours. They spent thousands and some kid cracked it in an hour. Good job. I'll admit that I try before I buy, but I will buy if it is good, if for no other reason than to encourage good games.

Those annoying banner screens that load before you can play advertising the game company, the manufacturer, some guy's dog, and who knows what else, especially when you can't click past them. Let me play already! At the very least, put a progress bar to let me know the game is loading. This is a big plus for Kudos. I start the game and bam, it puts me right on a title screen where I can get down to business.

Expansion packs. I'm looking at you EA games with your "The Sims 2: You people will buy anything" mentality. I love simulation games, but the last expansion pack, Family Fun, really annoyed me. They put a few items that would have best been served as a download and called it an expansion. An expansion to me is expanded game play with items thrown in as a bonus. This really soured me.

Sexual themes. It seems like this is on the upswing and I don't like it. I'm an adult and know these things go on, but I really don't want graphic portrayals of this. I am a bit more prudish than most, but I don't want to censor it, I'd just like an option to turn it off, or better yet, have it start teen friendly, and put an option to turn it on, much like Kudos with the Same sex option turned off initially. Incidentally I did turn it on, but that was my choice. The Sims is similar. It allows same sex relations, but you as the player have to initiate them.

Graphic violence. Again, I play games to relax, not to see disturbing imagery.

Rigidly defined mission and scenario games. Note that most of the games I play have free form modes. I like to play my way with open ended objectives. This is another reason I like simulations as opposed to RPGs or tactical games.

Games that make you "unlock" things. Simcity 4 is a good example. You have to build in a certain sequence to get a larger fire station. If I have an island for example, I can provide complete coverage with a single large fire station in the center of town. Why should I have to tediously build four small ones in the corners, wait for a certain population, then tear them down, and rezone my town center? Let me build it my way already. Very frustrating.

Games that "phone home" without permission. When I play a game, I often shut the internet down for security. Many games now try to access the internet for updates, which is understandable, or to get me to a website to buy other items, which is not acceptable to me. Let me access the net as I see fit.

Auto-updating. This is a trend that I'm seeing and I especially don't like it. As I said, I don't like a game phoning home without permission, but I especially don't like auto-updates. Firefox is a good example of why. Firefox updated by itself, which is the default behavior. After doing so, many of my extensions broke. Within a week they were mostly fixed, but I didn't appreciate losing functionality. There is also the spectre of having a buggy update causing crashes.

Phew! This is obviously a topic that generates passion for me. Hopefully this gives people some insight.

[JuntaJoe]

You might wish to get your hands on a copy of Trade Empires, Eddy.

It's a hybrid rts that allows you to stop or slow the action at any point and fully adjust everything.

It isn't much to look at either, but it is very challenging and very replayable.

It has the simple premise of optimizing resource gathering and selling them at trade centers that you help grow in size.

Should be easy to get a copy dirt cheap too. No more than $10 for an unopened copy.

But it is pretty old and all the support forums are long gone. I did manage to get my paws on the latest patch before all the sites went belly up and I could gmail it to you.

[Waray]

Amusing post :)
Instantly recognizable in many aspects, but:

Eddy wrote: Real time strategy. These are great if you are 14 and have nothing else to do, and can sit for hours clicking mindlessly, but I like to sit and contemplate my next move. I also have real life concerns to attend to. If the doorbell rings, I'd like to be able to answer it without dying.

Then, euh, pause the game? Save it?
I still enjoy a game of C&C Generals & Starcraft once in a while, or more recently BfME2 which for my idea don't last for more then around 15 minutes top. But a lot less forgiving in a shorter period of time while building then let's say, Sim City, I'd have to agree with you. And that's what I enjoy about those games.

Eddy wrote: Games that make you "unlock" things.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that something rewarding? Sim City is a great example of a game where you gradually expand and build your city to great heights (Although I most confess, the only thing I enjoyed about Sim City was letting your city get destroyed by tornados and stuff, guess I'm too much an RTS gamer :P), where getting the best immediately is imho a bit like cheating. Most people didn't get as rich as they did overnight, so a proces (including getting better and more efficient buildings over time) is a logical thing to have in simulation games.
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[crispybacon]

Eddy wrote:
I'll also go with graphics over gameplay. I'm an old-school gamer and some of my favorite games have been mentioned already.


Ohhhh man do I agree! My friends and I are still playing Heroes of Might and Magic 3, Tropico and Master of Orion 3 (less of the last. BUGGY is not description enough) to this day. To the extent that I've wasted MONTHS playing campeign after campeign. Replay value is truly a must.

As for violence and sex you're right. More control would be a good thing. Neither makes a game (though GTA: San Andreas sales might prove otherwise :shock: ) and not everbody needs that kind of thing. Heck, even some of my favorite FPS's had little/no blood and gore (Star Trek Elite Force for example. Yes. I'm pathetic.)
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