This Tuesday, once again, it was a tight squeeze to find a topic, so much the better that something always comes up at the last minute. Today, I’m getting a bit upset about things that the game withholds – mainly about essential information that is crucial.
I want to emphasize that this is not about secrets that one must discover; those have their own charm and thus their right to exist.
Remnants from the Past
A particularly young example can be found in “World of Warcraft”. There, aspiring master blacksmiths can find items like this: “The Enticing Piece Set“… to restore this item for your garrison” suggests that the repaired breastplate will have some use once you reassemble it. And that was correct: but only in the beta. At that time, you could exchange these items in the garrison for other useful things. This feature was eventually removed, likely simply because players with a “low” skill in blacksmithing would then have an advantage over veteran artisans.
The annoying thing about the whole situation is that the assembled item “Reforged Breastplate” is of green quality, which automatically implies that it still has a use. The German version even explicitly states that you can hand it over to the garrison armor master to receive something. Not a few players have already turned their headquarters upside down to find the mysterious guy – but no chance. The mentioned items can only be sold for little gold to any vendor.
Game-Changing Knowledge
While the previous example can still be classified as “annoying”, the next one can completely ruin the fun for some players: game mechanics that are not explained in the game. Especially newcomers to a game often have little time or desire to thoroughly inform themselves on websites about various aspects before they plunge into battle.
This is particularly fatal in many PvP situations, where different rules often apply than in the rest of the game world. Why do “Knockout” and “Polymorph” in WoW PvP only last 8 seconds and not 50? That’s of course a trick question, as I know why it is – the crucial point is that it is not explained to newcomers anywhere in the game. You can’t deduce it from any tooltip and you’re not prepared for it anywhere. I can hardly imagine anything more frustrating than the moment when someone realizes that the awesome spell they’ve been using for 100 levels is completely useless against other players – for no apparent reason.
But I don’t want to pinpoint this issue solely on WoW; many other games also exhibit this problem. Take my personal favorite “Smite“. Smite typically puts a lot of effort into accurately describing each ability and its effects. Particularly important are states, such as immunity to control effects, which often occur with so-called “ultimates”. With Ymir, the Frost Giant, his ultimate ability does NOT specify that. So, I thought to myself as “little smart pig”: When Ymir casts his big spell, I’ll just go in, silence him, and dance around him. Well. No chance, unexpected and tough luck. Just two seconds later, I lay dead on the ground because he was, of course, immune – without the game having informed me about it.
So my dear developer friends, what do I want to say to you? I love detailed descriptions of abilities! Just make them complete so I don’t have to google every little thing before I can plunge into battle.
