Video games have grown massively over the years but there are some inescapable features and trends of video games that have thus far simply refused to die, and this list will examine 10 of the most irritating trends in video games that we would definitely rather simply disappeared. Notable mention: First-Day Patches When they are small, first day patches are inconsequential as they only add around 30 seconds to the first time you play a game. When they are large they are a nightmare, the recent Wii-U first day patch (which bricks your console if you try to skip it) is so horrendously long that Nintendo recommended anyone buying a Wii-U that a friend/family member at Christmas un-package the console and install the patch before giving it. Here are 10 video game trends we wish would disappear.
10. Escort Quests
Anybody who has ever played World of Warcraft will know the "joy" of escort quests. While not as boring as gather quests, with their random drops, which sometimes end up taking hours because the mobs simply aren't dropping the item needed to be gathered, they can be infinitely more annoying based solely on the generally poor AI that plagues the NPCs and trolls/griefers in MMOs. The worst thing about escort quests is that when done properly they could be incredible. Imagine meeting a young soldier, the lone survivor of an attack on his company, he's scared but trained, and crucially still capable of following basic squad commands similar to those in traditional third person shooters. You'd be responsible for making sure he doesn't get too overwhelmed but one-on-one and facing death; he'd have the ability, with a long cooldown, to make the killing shot. As the game progressed he'd start to regain confidence, more squad commands would become available, until eventually, he is a full squad-mate, just in time for the game to take a turn in another direction. Escort quests have become muddled, frustrating, confusing messes but they rank low on the list because there is scope to change them rather than eliminate them. The Last of Us, scheduled for release in May 2013, looks like a game which could be addressing some of these problems by making the escorted character useful, so I am going into 2013 with high hopes that this trend could already be on the mend.