Another Top 10 Problems Every Gamer Has Faced

This isn’t as much of a problem today thanks to online gaming, but it was a huge issue back in the day. Cast your mind back to the glory days of childhood when you and your friends gathered together to play some games. It was a ton of fun – minus one glaring flaw: the fifth wheel. Seeing as how there were only four controller slots, only four people could play at any one time. Usually you could get around this by taking turns or having the loser hand off their controller to the next person, but regardless, just sitting there and watching your friends have all the fun was super lame.

There’s always that one damn level or boss which is nothing but a royal pain in the ass. Upon your first playthrough, these can be painfully annoying, and can potentially make you want to quit the game altogether. Upon replays, you’re constantly dreading getting to this one part, and when you reach it, all your ambition and drive goes right out the window. Think of that atrocious water temple from “Ocarina of Time,” or various boss battles, like the first time you fight Father Gascoigne in “Bloodborne.” They’re good challenges, sure, but they’re not exactly a ton of fun.

Man, talk about a first world problem. It starts simple enough: you see a game on a good sale and decide to pick it up, thinking that you’ll get to it after you’ve finished your current game. Next week you see another good sale and pick that title up, thinking that you now have a healthy backlog to tide you over for a while. Next thing you know, you have 150 games sitting in your library collecting virtual dust and you’re out hundreds of dollars. Meanwhile, you’re still plugging away at “PUBG” for the fifth month in a row. Trust us, we get it.

This problem seems to be going away with the Xbox One and PC, but PS4 players are still left in the dust. While there finally seems to be some talk regarding cross-platform support between the two consoles, there’s nothing as of yet (minus “Fortnight”). Your friend has a PC but you decided to get a PS4? Too bad, you can’t play with them. You went with PS4 this generation while your buddy went with Xbox? Hopefully he has fun playing “Rocket League” without you. We yearn for the day when this is no longer an issue. But no, we have to protect the interests of the gamer!

We think we can speak for everyone when we say: screw paywalls. For those lucky enough to not know, a paywall is essentially a form of blocking your progress until you fork over some money. While these are rarely found in AAA games, they are a huge nuisance in small, more budget-friendly products, especially in freemium mobile games. There are various examples, like paying to get around a timeout, unlocking bonus content, or paying to remove constant ad breaks. We understand that these companies need to make money, but to be honest, we’d rather just pay up front. This pay-as-you-go thing is bogus.

We know this sounds silly, but ask any gamer: the worst thing about a fantastic game is actually finishing it. While most people will never 100% massive open world games like “The Witcher 3” or “Fallout,” those that are devoted to the game and wish to see it through to completion are left with some amazing memories. However, once you’ve done everything there is to do, you’re done. You desperately want to remain in this world and continue with the game, but there’s nothing to do, because you’ve already done everything it has to offer. It’s both a satisfying and incredibly empty feeling.

For ten or eleven months of the year, most gamers complain about having nothing to play, that no new games are coming out, that AAA gaming is dead, etc. But then October and November roll around, and all the big games come flooding into the market. It’s a detriment to the gamers because we’re usually left with no money by the end of the month. It’s a detriment to the industry because legitimately great games like “Titanfall 2” are overshadowed in the saturated market and become commercial failures. Can’t we start spacing them out a little?

“But mooom, you can’t pause online games! How many times do I have to tell you that!?” All jokes aside, not being able to pause online games is a right pain in the butt. Whenever you’re playing a game, something always comes up, whether it’s helping the spouse with the groceries, or even just having to pee. In those situations, you’re left with a choice: abandon your duties and continue with the game (and face the consequences), or abandon the game and lose all your progress. While you should never ignore real-world responsibilities in favor of playing video games, we can understand the frustration.

Like when a hotly anticipated movie or novel comes out, it’s best to stay far, far away from the internet until you experience it for yourself. Otherwise, the game will undoubtedly be spoiled for you within seconds of opening social media. Let’s face it: interesting stories in video games are a dime a dozen, so when one comes out, the internet is flooded with discussions about the plot. Seriously, how many of you knew the ending to “BioShock” simply through hearing about it online? And don’t even think about going on YouTube, because thumbnails with spoilers will be littering the site.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Rage Quitters

Constant Delays

Nooooooo!!! You know, forget this game, we’re done. Crashes are the absolute bane of a gamer’s existence. Not only do they take you out of the experience, but they completely ruin your mood and make you want to punch a puppy. Game crashes can corrupt your file, or they can simply result in you losing a ton of progress. There’s nothing more harrowing than seeing your game freeze before going to the screen of death. It makes the developers and publishers look bad, it creates terrible word-of-mouth, and it does nothing but piss everyone off. Ugh, game crashes are the worst.