Game developers: stop irritating me!

Derrial

Show me the UI!
I'm sick of pretty screenshots. Lovely scenic screenshots that tell me nothing about the gameplay are of very little use to me. Worse are "flyby" videos that zoom around the game environment like superman but don't help me figure out if I'll like it or not. All it tells me is that there is dirt and rocks and trees. I figured that for myself, so now show me how it actually PLAYS. And show me the UI, especially for MMORPGs!

For the last time, my birthday is January 23 1978!
So far no game company has ever sent me a birthday present, so why do they all want to know by birthday every time I visit their web page or view their trailers? Does anyone even bother to give their real birthday anymore, or like me do you just pick something more or less at random like Jan 1 1980? Do they think a 13 year old can't figure out how to add 5 more years onto his birthday to get in to see a trailer? It's silly.

I already have DirectX!
I promise I keep my computer up to date and I have the latest DirectX installed. Chances are the version you're trying to install is older than the version I have. How do I know your installer is smart enough to not downgrade my DirectX? I don't mind you asking me if I want to install DirectX, but forcing it to install is stupid. Get away from me! And take Punkbuster with you!

No more bloody intro logos!
"The way it's meant to be played" is that I click on the icon and then I start playing the game. Period. I don't want to wait for five or six company logos to play out their cute little animations. Nevermind the fact that Nvidia isn't the only option for PC video cards. At least let me skip that shit with a click or the escape key or something. Clicking through those startup screens used to be a given, but lately it's becoming more and more likely that you'll be forced to wait through 5 minutes of logos and loading screens before you can start a game. They're just commercials really, and it might not be long before Pepsi and MacDonalds get in on it.

LynxJSA

Originally posted by CayneJobb


Show me the UI!

I'm sick of pretty screenshots. Lovely scenic screenshots that tell me nothing about the gameplay are of very little use to me. Worse are "flyby" videos that zoom around the game environment like superman but don't help me figure out if I'll like it or not. All it tells me is that there is dirt and rocks and trees. I figured that for myself, so now show me how it actually PLAYS. And show me the UI, especially for MMORPGs!
For the last time, my birthday is January 23 1978!

So far no game company has ever sent me a birthday present, so why do they all want to know by birthday every time I visit their web page or view their trailers? Does anyone even bother to give their real birthday anymore, or like me do you just pick something more or less at random like Jan 1 1980? Do they think a 13 year old can't figure out how to add 5 more years onto his birthday to get in to see a trailer? It's silly.
I already have DirectX!

I promise I keep my computer up to date and I have the latest DirectX installed. Chances are the version you're trying to install is older than the version I have. How do I know your installer is smart enough to not downgrade my DirectX? I don't mind you asking me if I want to install DirectX, but forcing it to install is stupid. Get away from me! And take Punkbuster with you!
No more bloody intro logos!

"The way it's meant to be played" is that I click on the icon and then I start playing the game. Period. I don't want to wait for five or six company logos to play out their cute little animations. Nevermind the fact that Nvidia isn't the only option for PC video cards. At least let me skip that shit with a click or the escape key or something. Clicking through those startup screens used to be a given, but lately it's becoming more and more likely that you'll be forced to wait through 5 minutes of logos and loading screens before you can start a game. They're just commercials really, and it might not be long before Pepsi and MacDonalds get in on it.

 

With the exception of the first one, you've given a list of things that developers probably also dislike but they had to agree to for one reason or another. One agency mandates an age gate. Another mandates big warnings and logos on everything from box to trailer to login. Then you have the companies that make certain middleware and hardware who mandate that you have to splash their logo up for a certian amount of time in order to use their product.

I'd be willng to be that they devs are as irritated as you by those things.