What grinds my gears!

[Jack]

DRM is exactly why I prefer to play my big budget games on a console.

I could years ago get over the fact that console games were sold at double the price of PC games, but modern console prices are just offensive to me. That's beside the "features" of always-on cameras and mics.

"Do you have a moment to jump on a quick call?"

No. Learn reading comprehension and don't waste my time.

Also, this.

[Blondbraid]

I'll always be a PC gamer at heart. But because of DRM alone, I'll always play so called "AAA" games on a console. And if you need me to prove it, just look up Assassin's Creed Origins. (Not that I'd play such a terrible game anyway.)

Assassin's Creed Origins is the only Assassin's Creed game that I've started but never finished, and I didn't even bother with Odyssey due to the obnoxious trend of all AAA games turning into the same RPG/Sandbox blaha where you have to spend ages travelling giant maps with nothing worthwhile in them and all the fun abilities are arbitrarily locked behind a skill tree forcing you to do a bunch of pointless busywork and repetitive sidequests instead of just being able to do all the cool stuff you came for from the start.

Seriously, why cant modern AAA devs just make a well-paced game that prioritizes fun and unique gameplay instead of this ubiquitous mess of aimless open-world grinding?
It's gotten so bad some games are even offering boost packages as dlc just so players can skip the grind, which defeats the entire purpose of games for entertainment.

[Jack]

Seriously, why cant modern AAA devs just make a well-paced game that prioritizes fun and unique gameplay instead of this ubiquitous mess of aimless open-world grinding?
It's gotten so bad some games are even offering boost packages as dlc just so players can skip the grind, which defeats the entire purpose of games for entertainment.

a) Then they can't deliver the premium team-based open-world experience with customisable hats, that the focus group told them is currently a hot item with young adults ages 11 to 40.
b) (most importantly) Then they can't offer people with money to spend in-game the opportunity to skip all the grinding.

[Mandle]

Seriously, why cant modern AAA devs just make a well-paced game that prioritizes fun and unique gameplay instead of this ubiquitous mess of aimless open-world grinding?

It's a cheap and nasty way to pad the runtime of the game without having to bother with all that annoyingly difficult "content" stuff?

(I don't mind grinding in RPGs if the combat experience is varied and tactically challenging enough but if it's just "hit-get hit-hit-get hit-you win or lose" it gets old fast)

[Mandle]

What grinds my gears is the AGS Translation system...

It can go fuck itself.

[Danvzare]

Seriously, why cant modern AAA devs just make a well-paced game that prioritizes fun and unique gameplay instead of this ubiquitous mess of aimless open-world grinding?
It's gotten so bad some games are even offering boost packages as dlc just so players can skip the grind, which defeats the entire purpose of games for entertainment.

That right there, is exactly WHY they now make all of their games aimless open-world grindfests.
They're no longer in the business of making games. They're in the business of selling you time-savers, so you don't have to play their terrible games. (Which begs the question as to why people are still buying their games. I have a few theories, but nothing I can say with certainty.)
I could go into a really long rant about the corruption of RPG mechanics to sell cheat codes, and how Assassin's Creed new leveling system is an offense to both the Assassin's Creed franchise and RPG mechanics as a whole.
But I don't want to write that much. 

What grinds my gears is the AGS Translation system...

It can go fuck itself.

As someone who has never really used the AGS Translation system, could you please tell me why it's so terrible.
It always looked "good enough" to me.

[Mandle]

As someone who has never really used the AGS Translation system, could you please tell me why it's so terrible.
It always looked "good enough" to me.

Meh, it's workable. I was in a really bad mood when I wrote that.

But, when you have a 100 page-length translation and have to write the translated dialog in every second line, including the &27, for example, dialog numbers it's easy to make mistakes here and there, like hitting "enter" by accident and creating an extra line, which throws off the whole translation, or deleting a line by accident, or deleting the "return" space forcing two lines together, or an unintended space between the & and the number, or many other things.

Then you have to scroll through the 100 pages to try and find all the errors, which I was doing yesterday for like 5 or 6 hours and still couldn't get the damn thing working yet.

I know there are programs that people have made to make things easier. I should probably be using one of them and will look into this next time.

[Cassiebsg]

There are? Please share when you do find it! 

[Blondbraid]

Well put, everyone.
I suppose what really grinds my gears regarding AAA games is that most of them have budgets larger than the GDP of minor nations to the point profit is the only thing that matter and we ger focus-tested-to-hell bland sandboxes with a ton of micro-transactions as a result.

And looking for alternatives, small indie games can be both fun and charming, but being made by just one or a handful of amateurs still do limit the scope of what can be done with games and not all genres work well with this formula. What I'm really missing is AA games made by minor studios that have some resources and professional experience, but can still take enough risk not to be a lesser clone of the Ubisof desert, but such games are harder to find than a Jeff Goldblum movie where he doesn't go "Uhhm" in every scene he's in.

[Mandle]

harder to find than a Jeff Goldblum movie where he doesn't go "Uhhm" in every scene he's in.

I'm working on an algorithm that predicts exactly how much Jeff Goldblum is needed in any specific movie given its tone and genre...

So far the results are:

Jurassic Park: 15% (almost perfect to the actual appearance time which is about 15.5%)

Jurassic Park. The Lost World: 37% (yeah, he waaaaay overstayed his welcome here)

Thor Ragnarok: 8% (He actually only clocked in at about 6% but close enough)

The Fly: 83% (The algorithm is working)

The Godfather: 23% (GODDAMMIT!!! Back to the drawing board!)

[Laura Hunt]

From Laura's List of Office Pet Peeves: people who smash their keyboards when they type as if they were releasing all their childhood frustrations on the poor thing.

[Mandle]

From Laura's List of Office Pet Peeves: people who smash their keyboards when they type as if they were releasing all their childhood frustrations on the poor thing.

And people who poke their monitors with their finger when showing you something.

[Laura Hunt]

From Laura's List of Office Pet Peeves: people who smash their keyboards when they type as if they were releasing all their childhood frustrations on the poor thing.

And people who poke their monitors with their finger when showing you something.

Hahaha, and people who double click on things that need only one click.

[Mandle]

Not really a gear-grinder but wanted to share this but not make a new thread:

(Hidden due to being a bit longish)

Spoiler

This is how I deal with trolls and weirdos in comments sections:
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Original Poster:
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sydIRISH
1 month ago
If Goblin would compose the soundtrack to my life....I'd live and die happy.

One of my favorite groups of all time. "Dawn of the Dead" (1978) will be buried with me.
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My reply (My YouTube name is "ManDevil"... long story) :
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ManDevil
20 hours ago
But will it stay buried?
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Then a back-and-forth with this random guy:
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Andrew Purdy
20 hours ago
@ManDevil Without Faith in Christ Jesus, the answer is an astounding NO..

How to become a Zombie: reject God's Son!

Woohoo!!!!!!!!
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Andrew Purdy
20 hours ago
"Man Devil" .. Fuck ye gotta love how God sets this shit up.. lol
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ManDevil
20 hours ago
@Andrew Purdy Are you doing a "bit"?
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Andrew Purdy
20 hours ago
@ManDevil Sure, you go ahead and believe  that and just spend eternity in Hell.

Sure, you "do that thang!"
I'mma 'troll'..
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ManDevil
19 hours ago
@Andrew Purdy Okay, sounds like a plan!
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Andrew Purdy
19 hours ago
@ManDevil Hey 'ManDevil' .. lemme ask you a question..

Who would do that?.. study, confess, profess the Creator of all things .. even going so far as putting faith in what the Prophets said, that all, ALL, even those lost to Satan must RISE from their graves .. those betraying God by betraying His Son, becoming a "Walking Pestilence" ..

WHO in thee ALL flying FUCK would honestly research, and [gulp] BELIEVE it, then turn around to "Troll" others???

Seriously, ye gotta be damn retarded to even "go there"..

"Are you doing a bit?" .. WTF..

You Devil Men are the INSANE assholes [as I am accused of DAILY!]

WHO on Earth would do that!?
[I guess an Evil shit might.. but I would NEVER do such a Damned thing!]
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Andrew Purdy
19 hours ago (edited)
I plus your turd comment, for it proves Bible Truth

Mockers and scoffers shall come, OH Hell YES they did!.. BY (BYE!) the damn droves!
...
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ManDevil
19 hours ago
@Andrew Purdy Wait... Are you... are you breaking up with me?!
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Andrew Purdy
18 hours ago
@ManDevil .. might sound silly, but man did that make me smile.

You'll see, you'll see..

...I used to be you, "Logical" "Individual" .. I just truly pity ye (not just you!) ..

Just that simple.. "Those who laugh now, cry Later"_ Christ Jesus, Son of God.

"Carry on" .. when you hear the "Sky Trumpets" and there's all sorts of "Alien" "Shit" "Going DOWN!"

..Nope.. not a 'troll', just a tired old Elect of God, yelling at the World (as Prophesied) .. Love ye all, but ye all just go and die (as prophesied!... Sucks, but the Truth!)
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ManDevil
17 hours ago
@Andrew Purdy You do you, dude... You do you...
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[close]

Because my YouTube name is "ManDevil" I attract a lot of religious nuts trying to save my soul I guess. The thing is, it's only "ManDevil" by coincidence really. I put a video on my channel of a ghost as part of the setup for a ghost story challenge for a kids' summer camp. But my YouTube name at the time was "MandleRoss" so they would have seen it and known it was a fake, planted by me. So I tried to just change my name to "Mandle" but it was taken so I went with "ManDevil" as it was kind of close and had an ominous ring to it for the ghost story prank. And then I just got used to it.

[cat]

What does

Are you doing a "bit"?

mean?

[lorenzo]

Because my YouTube name is "ManDevil" I attract a lot of religious nuts trying to save my soul I guess.

What?!? You're the guy behind ManDevil?! That's my favourite devil-worshipping channel on Youtube! I always go there, when I need instruction on how to summon demons and so on. The flat earth stuff is pretty decent as well. 
Keep up the good work, mate!

[Laura Hunt]

What does

Are you doing a "bit"?

mean?

Basically a joke, or a comedy routine.

[Laura Hunt]

Also, I'm totally stealing "WHO in thee ALL flying FUCK" for myself

[Mandle]

Because my YouTube name is "ManDevil" I attract a lot of religious nuts trying to save my soul I guess.

What?!? You're the guy behind ManDevil?! That's my favourite devil-worshipping channel on Youtube! I always go there, when I need instruction on how to summon demons and so on. The flat earth stuff is pretty decent as well. 
Keep up the good work, mate!

ROFL!!!

Also, I'm totally stealing "WHO in thee ALL flying FUCK" for myself

Yeah, nutjobs can have great catchphrases.

Also, yes, "doing a bit" means acting out a comedy routine, especially stand-up comedy.

[Mouth for war]

When you're at the supermarket and in a hurry, you walk up to the store clerk thinking "Yes only one person before me" and that one person starts arguing for 30 minutes about how he/she paid 1 penny/cent/whatever your country's currency is, too much for something. After a while I'm just picturing myself strangling that person