Widescreen Gaming Forum

I thought it would be fun/interesting to compile a list of reasons as to why it sucks to be a PC gamer. The reasons listed do not have to be solely endemic to PC games.

Please add or something. I can give multiple examples of each if needed.



- Last place release dates of games.

- Cost of systems for modern gaming.

- Higher number of bugs per game.

- Pitiful testing of PC-only games.

- Lazy/outsourced porting.

- Using the people who buy your game as your beta testers.

- Superior versions of the same game available only through the purchase of said superior version, making original, inferior version, worthless.

- Special/Collector's Edition exclusive game content unavailable elsewhere.

- Invisible technical support staff on official product forums.

- Refusual to discuss/confirm if patch is being worked on. Just tell us yes or no FFS.

- Releasing a patch without a detailed changelog.

- Games the cannot even fuking install and never releasing an official fix.

- Calling a workaround that involves disabling some graphical quality option or hardware acceleration a "fix" that you will not bother addressing in a patch.

- HUD idiocy of non-scaling elements that make a HUD over four times smaller than what it was originally designed to be. If you don't want to scale your HUD than don't support higher resolutions so I know not to buy your shittly designed game.

- Using text that is too small or too large and cannot be adjusted in any way.

- Using fonts and color combinations that make it difficult or impossible to read the text.

- Ignoring gamers with some degree of color blindness or deafness.

- Expansion packs that are made up of all the shit content you removed from your original game.

- Expansion packs that contain features that should have been in the original game and can only be gained by buying the expansion.

- Horse armor for four bucks.

- Re-releases that rely on programs made by the community to run said releases which were only made because said community did not have access to the source code like you did.

- Level caps/level slowers that are there for "balance" reasons, which is a polite way of saying you were too damn lazy to actually design a game and just ripped the system from some other source.

- Buying a game and realizing that you got the older, shit version.

- Patches for long, involved games that invalidate all your savegames.

- Buying a game which you think is a potentially great single player RPG which is actually an MMO.

- Buying a MMO which catches your eye that has already been shut down.

- Just getting into an MMO when the plug is pulled.

- Spending years paying a subscription for an MMO and finally realizing you don't even like the game and have been playing out of a fear that you are not getting your money's worth from said subscription.

- Potentially brillant RPGs which have been ruined with shit battle systems because of the need to have lucrative multiplayer support.

- Getting a localization of a game that has been censored and/or translated by gibbons.

- Realizing that the best version of one of your favorite games is only in a language that you do not understand.

- Getting developer posts referencing content that will be released "soon," when "soon" is actually over a year away.

- Reading a developer's interview where they promise to properly support something and knowing they do not have a clue what they are talking about.

- Being told that rolling back drivers is the only known solution to a game crippling bug.

- A game not supporting an OS that has been out for over a year because the OS, "came out too late."

- Playing with your squadmates/clanfolk online and realizing that they are all assholes.

- Software mode is your only option.

- PVP dropouts that are not punished.

- Hearing how great a company balances and polishes their games before release when they release more patches than anyone.

- The elusive PC version of one of your favorite console games that has been rumored to be in the works for years but will never come out.

- Preordering a game that ends up being sold for 20 bucks within two months of its release.

- Having the PC version of a game you paid for running worse than the emulated console version someone pirated.

- Game patch suggestion threads that the developer never reads.

- Stealth game releases that you do not find out about unitl after the game is out of print.

- Having to wade through the posts of some neo-facist PC elite as they ramble about the dumbing down of a game where you cannot blow the head off of a child.

- Realizing that the Collector's Edition of a game is the only one that comes with a manual.

- The Sims expansions.

- Bloatware that needs to be running for a game to play.

- Porting a game from the PS2 version instead of the 360 or PS3 versions.

- Porting a console game and not using the best game version available. Koei!

- DLC content for a game that is only released in a language you cannot understand.

- No DLC content, and it is kind of important, like the ending. Prince of Persia!

- The complex game fix posted by a member of the community which contains dozens of elaborate steps but does not actually work and is still listed as the top result by Google, continuing a vicious cycle.

- Having to go into the console forums of a game to get support for the PC version.

- Games that have developers who are disbanded before the game is released.

- Developers who pretend that nothing is wrong when the online ship is sinking and you only finding out about it after you have purchased the subscription package.

- Technical support forums with stickies that take up over 50% of the threads on the page.

- Knowing that the one game you have been waiting for will never be released for the PC and you are going to have to pony up and get another console for a single game. Again.

- Spending more time trying to get a game running properly than actually playing the game.

- Reading about a fantastic mod in development and then realizing that the only thing done is some stupid weapon models.

- Mods that are derailed by egos and selfish individuals who think they own the IP of the game they are modding.

I feel like I have yet to scratch the surface...

Nice quasi-rant ;)

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Dipping bags at Mach1.9

I don't the drawbacks too much, it's still worth it.

I keep considering buying a console, but I always end up getting a new computer part.

If consoles were open platforms I would be a console gamer.

Of course, then they wouldn't be consoles.

Nice quasi-rant

Yeah it seemed to keep growing so I cut it short.

Make no mistake, I love/hate PCs and consoles for their strengths and weaknesses. In the end, I go where the games are that I want to play.

- The elusive PC version of one of your favorite console games that has been rumored to be in the works for years but will never come out.

The Darkness and Condemned 2 :cry:

I think console-only gamers miss a LOT more than PC-only gamers though, in the overall scheme of things, especially when talking about titles more than 5 years old.

Of course, the best thing to do is game on all consoles and PC together, but who has the time and money for that?

- Reading a developer's interview where they promise to properly support something and knowing they do not have a clue what they are talking about.

- Bloatware that needs to be running for a game to play.

These. Completely. Although I agree with just about every single point you made, these are the two that really, really rubbed me the wrong way most recently.

I think console-only gamers miss a LOT more than PC-only gamers though, in the overall scheme of things, especially when talking about titles more than 5 years old.

Of course, the best thing to do is game on all consoles and PC together, but who has the time and money for that?

I try. ;)

PC gamers miss a lot of the type of games I most enjoy at the minute (JRPGs) but by and large, you're 100% correct.

...

I'll add one:

- Dev's who add 'features' that are locked down to only work if you have certain hardware... and furthermore add nothing really substantial to the game.

...Of course, the best thing to do is game on all consoles and PC together, but who has the time and money for that?

Actually i did just that this past year, I bought a 360, wii, and ps3. I ended up selling my wii and ps3 because the pc had them both covered in game. I love Dolphin (gamcube and wii emulator) and the PS3 exclusives arn't anyting to rant about, except maybe littlebigplanet, but that game was and still isn't not worth $400.

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System Core: | Intel Core i5-2500K + ASUS P8Z68-V + 16GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333 MHz | Win7 x64 | MSI R7970 Lightning 3GB [1105/1400] |
Display: | 3 x Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP-HC @ 7680x1600 | Dell u3011 |

Actually i did just that this past year, I bought a 360, wii, and ps3. I ended up selling my wii and ps3 because the pc had them both covered in game. I love Dolphin (gamcube and wii emulator) and the PS3 exclusives arn't anyting to rant about, except maybe littlebigplanet, but that game was and still isn't not worth $400.

Disgaea 3.

:D

Cross Edge.

:D

Valkyria Chronicles.

:D

And Blu-ray support. I got my PS3 when Blu-ray players were almost the same price, and didn't do as much. :)

...

I'll need to look Dolphin up. Got a pile of Gamecube games, and my GC is packed away in the cupboard.

Paradigm Shifter, im havn't got into an rpg in a long time and i really think that every Disgaea is basically the same (gameplay wise) so i just played a bit on my psp. But that's just me. Also 4 games really wont sway me to buy a console either. I just road the hype last year, seeing what i liked.

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System Core: | Intel Core i5-2500K + ASUS P8Z68-V + 16GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333 MHz | Win7 x64 | MSI R7970 Lightning 3GB [1105/1400] |
Display: | 3 x Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP-HC @ 7680x1600 | Dell u3011 |