#43. Videogames I Hate and Why

As I daydream myself as a future videogame developer (which would be too future if I keep myself as I am now) I keep asking some things to myself, and one of them is: What kind of videogame do I want to make? My drafts show me that I am far from certain to answer that question, but au contraire, they show me that I am ready answer the opposite of the question, as in: What kind of videogame do I not want to make?

This is very personal stuff, but ever since I got my smartphones and found that there are many videogames in mobile platforms, the first thing I learned was to hate some mobile videogames. I won't explicitly name those games, but at least I can elaborate which aspects of the games did I find so revolting, and they are:

Auto-Whatever. I know people these days are too busy to spare time for videogames, I experience the same thing now that I am properly hired and all. However, that does not justify the "Auto Battle" button on the screen, which turns the videogame into a video, and not a game. I mean, what good is a videogame if all you do is just letting the game doing everything on its own, and watching the progress done without you? The first time I saw the feature in one of those kinds of game which allows the game dungeon crawl on its own I nearly swore out loud. I'd rather watch a decent film or some TV series than playing, no, letting the game play itself. You know what, I don't want to call it a game at all, I want to call it demos with a choice or two.

Over 9000... and Beyond? Maybe because I am a tabletop roleplayer myself, but I find numbers in recent videogames a bit too large, and for some reasons the game wants to constantly brag of how great their numbers are. Although I know that the percentage calculations and stuffs are much easier and more elaborate on bigger numbers, I am rather doubtful if it is a good thing to get entertained at millions and billions of numbers that are achieved too easily. Personally I prefer smaller numbers, which reminds me that the difference between one and two can be a matter of life or death. Many roguelike games, and recently Darkest Dungeons showed me the thrills of small numbers.

Pay to Win. I'm not a big spender, but if it means some fine-quality videogames, I am more than happy to spend some cash. Why is this simple yet perfectly reasonable idea lost on so many videogames, as they force players keep spending money on something that is supposed to be free? I don't win every time I play, but if I would win, I want to win all by my own decisions and skills, not by cash-purchased, overpowered items and stuffs. Life is already capitalist enough; I don't want such extensions of competitive money-spending race when I want to let out some steam with my videogames.

Wheel... of... Misfortunes! When I pay like a dollar for, say, a bar of chocolate, I want nothing more than a chocolate. Nowhere in real life I have to place my wage on some kind of roulette, which dispenses maybe a bar of chocolate, maybe a bit of chocolate, and maybe a bar of chocolate with the Golden Ticket in it (if my surname is Bucket, maybe). If I want to buy Item X, I want nothing more than X, and I do not want to gamble on that. Some might say that it's more thrilling that way, but I find it rather disturbing, especially since I hear news that some devs are actually meddling with the roulette tables.

If I was a full-time videogame developer, this would have helped me with my game-making progress. As an inept intern in a company that has nothing to do with videogame development (although I am rather happy with my work) this is little more than a rant on videogames I don't like. Well, gotta grow up. End transmission.