The 6 Most Ominous Trends in Video Games

[ApexMods]

The 6 Most Ominous Trends in Video Games

The best write-up about the state of the gaming industry I've read in a long time. Highly recommended!

Don't miss out on some of David Wong's other magnificent musings:

More Proof the Video Game Industry is Out of Ideas

The Day the Gaming Industry Died

[WytchDokta]

What, no mention of devs believing that scripting the AI to shoot primarily at the player and completely ignore shooting at the player's AI teammates makes the game more challenging? (When it actually breaks the gameplay experience instead.) Also, no mention of another common trend: heaps of unnecessary unskippable 10 minute long cutscenes. But otherwise good read.

Edited June 14, 2011 by WytchDokta

[Tinker]

AI to shoot primarily at the player and completely ignore shooting at the player's AI teammates makes the game more challenging? (When it actually breaks the gameplay experience instead.)

This is becoming more and more annoying with the more recent games I play.

Yesterday playing BC2, came around a corner to an enemy position. Guy on a standing MG nest started blatting away at me. Puled back to the corner and he could probably see the tip of my elbow, but still blat blat blat.

For god sake, I am AFK sipping tea, of no threat to you at all. How about you point that thing at my 3 team mates who out in plain sight,with no cover, and actually firing at you?

[WytchDokta]

Glad to see others share the annoyance of this modern trend in games. Challenge does not equal major annoyance. If I wanted more challenge, I'd turn the difficulty up.

We need another one of those pics doing, from an AI's point of view, an AI script plan as it were. It would go like this:

Override: enable see through walls.

Override; enable single player out.

Player status: idle; threat posed: massive; action: shoot at player.

Player teammates type: tank, stealth, heavyhitter; threat posed: nil; action: ignore - shoot at player.

Player status: in cover; threat posed: massive; action: shoot at player whilst in cover regardless of the fact there's no possible way to hit the player.

Override: rush player position en masse.

Override: enable 100% accuracy whilst running and firing prolonged bursts.

Player teammates status: in open; action: ignore - shoot at player.

Player teammates status: returning fire; action: ignore - shoot at player.

Edited June 15, 2011 by WytchDokta