Aspects of gaming that no one seems to question.

[Kayevcee]

In shooters, ow do you reload half or part of an expended mag and keep the rest of the bullets?

I always imagined Gordon Freeman obsessively emptying his half-full magazines and reloading them to make full ones when he's between firefights. I think it would add a more strategic element to reloading if you did lose the bullets left in the old clip- do I chuck away a third of a clip now or risk being caught out if one of the two guys on the other side of this wall refuses to fall down?

What the hell is going on in side-scrolling beat-em-ups? You punch an oil drum or a mailbox or a phone booth and underneath it there's usually either a diamond the size of your fist, a bar of gold or a whole roast turkey with all the trimmings on a shiny platter?

-Nick

 

[havass]

How does a guard alert other guards, which are at least 100m away, to my position when all he can say is "ARR-" before getting a blade in his throat? How does one jump off the Giotto's Campanile and land in a stack of hay without suffering any injuries?

Why do people let a kid that's barely 12 travel the world with 6 creatures which are capable of mass destruction in his pocket?

How does running over a first aid kit on the floor instantly heal you? How does a human withstand so many bullets before finally dying? Why is the standard HP 100?

 

[SevenForce]

How the hell does that work? I mean, it just defies all laws of physics.

...

Why doesn't Chuck turn into a zombie even though he gets bitten all the time in his daily commute? (and for that matter, how does orange juice do anything for a bite wound?)

Yeah, i hate it when video games don't follow the laws of physics too.

 

[Thespian]

In every pokemon game:

How the hell does a bike fit in my backpack with tons of other travel equipment? I don't care how collapsible it is, it's silly! SILLY I SAY!

Or is the bag to bikes like pokeballs are to pokemon. And what the hell happens to pokemon in pokeballs? Do they just exist as a mindless red vapour? How much of their life is taken up inside these pokeballs, or in the box?

In Batman: Arkham Asylum where do all those batarangs come from? Okay, so the Utility belt is great for storage, but you can stand there for hours and he pulls out batarang after batarang, presumably from some "bat-shaped-throwing-weapon-producing" gland in his pelvis.

 

[meowchef]

This may have been suggested already, but... how in the crap can all those spindly JRPG characters swing those three and a half ton swords? Even Dragon Age is getting into this with their two handed swords being 14 feet long...

 

[Netrigan]

Another thing is, in Fallout 3, when you loot a soda machine, and it only has one soda in it, why is that? Did someone buy every soda in the machine except for one? Or if someone looted the machine before me, why did they take every soda EXCEPT one?

They would have taken the last one, but then they would've been over-encumbered

OT: For CoD why hip-firing at close range is so difficult. I mean, if someone is standing still, and you're literally running into him, how can you POSSIBLY miss that shot?

I've heard stories of western shootouts where two men emptied their revolvers at each other at near point-blank range... and no one landed a shot. Between nerves (saw a recreation on History's Mysteries which demonstrated how horribly people shooteven when using blanks) and an inaccurate weapon (running would make any weapon inaccurate) and it would be damn easy to miss.

 

[BVBFanatic]

(and for that matter, how does orange juice do anything for a bite wound?

The citric acids in the juice can help clean it up if you have nothing else on hand. Also one of the chemicals in orange juice accelerates coagulation.

 

[Something Amyss]

Why do characters die from one shot instantly in cutscenes, with no chance of revival and despite being shot a couple hundred thousand times prior to that.

While I think almost EVERYBODY has questioned that, it's annoying as HELL.

(Captcha included logika here)

 

[Something Amyss]

Another thing is, in Fallout 3, when you loot a soda machine, and it only has one soda in it, why is that? Did someone buy every soda in the machine except for one? Or if someone looted the machine before me, why did they take every soda EXCEPT one?

They would have taken the last one, but then they would've been over-encumbered

OT: For CoD why hip-firing at close range is so difficult. I mean, if someone is standing still, and you're literally running into him, how can you POSSIBLY miss that shot?

I've heard stories of western shootouts where two men emptied their revolvers at each other at near point-blank range... and no one landed a shot. Between nerves (saw a recreation on History's Mysteries which demonstrated how horribly people shooteven when using blanks) and an inaccurate weapon (running would make any weapon inaccurate) and it would be damn easy to miss.

Yeah, but CoD isn't replicating Western shootouts. Or using those weapons. Or reality.

 

[Bridgeru]

Okay, I have two.

In Metal Gear Solid.... How does the Codec work?! Are they talking to themselves? If so, why doesn't the enemy hear them? Also, it'd make the switch to codec by Ames not nessecary in 2. Or does it work with nanomachines? So it scans your brain for what you're thinking?

In Final Fantasy VIII, I can get the Time Compression, the Sorceresses, the whole schools that are flying machines, plotlines. But, why is it, that when you try to kidnap the President, and it turns out to be a body-double (fair enough), it turns into a ZOMBIE for no reason?

 

[RA92]

In every space fighter game, ranging from Star Wars to Free Space, how can I hear things? http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/comics/irreg0573.jpg

 

[Netrigan]

Another thing is, in Fallout 3, when you loot a soda machine, and it only has one soda in it, why is that? Did someone buy every soda in the machine except for one? Or if someone looted the machine before me, why did they take every soda EXCEPT one?

They would have taken the last one, but then they would've been over-encumbered

OT: For CoD why hip-firing at close range is so difficult. I mean, if someone is standing still, and you're literally running into him, how can you POSSIBLY miss that shot?

I've heard stories of western shootouts where two men emptied their revolvers at each other at near point-blank range... and no one landed a shot. Between nerves (saw a recreation on History's Mysteries which demonstrated how horribly people shooteven when using blanks) and an inaccurate weapon (running would make any weapon inaccurate) and it would be damn easy to miss.

Yeah, but CoD isn't replicating Western shootouts. Or using those weapons. Or reality.

it does having a accuracy system. An unaimed shot is less accurate than an aimed one and shooting while moving is less accurate than a shot taken while prone.

Shooting while running would probably be as inaccurate as shooting a western firearm from a stationary position.

 

[Retosa]

There's so many, but most of them can be explained away by standard fiction tropes. However, my biggest question is "Why can't we just talk it out"? And that's not the hippie bull that it sounds like.

Extra Credits briefly touched on this, I believe. To put it simply, why is a system of diplomacy so impossible in games? Games like Modern Warefare and the like are obviously exempt from this, but what about RPGs like Dragon Age and the like? It seems to me that there should be a non-combat method for winning, one that allows you to tactfully manipulate the people to do what you want instead of just making sure that you start combat in the best position.

Honestly, if a game like Echo Bazaar, a browser-based flash game I might remind you, can support this, then why not mainstream stuff?

I guess I'm just one of those weirdos that likes that kind of stuff. Hell, one of my favorite things about the Civilization series is the Diplomacy system, I have yet to win a war victory because I don't really care for them. There's nothing more satisfying than turning your enemies against each other in order to weaken them both, then buying up the City-States surrounding them to wipe out their borders.

You know what's more satisfying? Spending hours massing your forces until you are ready for the select-all-cluster-fuck across the map. Leaving death and destruction in your wake.

Why the frak do I need to give up my handgun when I pick up a bigger weapon in most current 2-weapon-limit FPSs? Don't I carry the pistol on my thigh? Geez! Imagine a real-life soldier thinking whether to throw away the 1kg handgun and pick up the 15kg sniper rifle.

Real life soldiers do not go around looting different guns from fallen enemies and comrades. A soldier generally has one type of weapon in which he or she specializes, and they stick to that.

On to the topic. I'm in a horror game. Why the fuck do I have assault rifles and power armor? Aren't I supposed to be scared by the enemies, not seeking them out to show them my new toys?

You're partially right. Real life soldiers are told what type of weapons they are authorized to use within a theatre of war. They are allowed to take ammunition (if it's the same), OR the weapons if they are running out of ammunition (staying alive being the most important thing). They are trained in the use of different types of weapons. Maybe the specific rifle that they just picked up isn't something they're trained with, but they'll use it if required.

 

[Popadoo]

Why does Cole (inFamous) die when he hits water? I mean, really, think about it. He runs on metal wires all the time, which are conductive, then when he hits water he instantly gets fried, which suggests electrocution, but he can't get electrocuted because he has THOUSANDS OF VOLTS passing through him every day.

 

[Catalyst6]

*snip*

This. This frequently bothered me in Dragon Age (But... but I don't *want* to kill you Mr. Elf, but if I don't I have to kill the humans....). Not to mention half of FF's could be solved with "What are you thinking about right now?"

Exactly. Let's have a difficult but possible method of solving the issue without drawing swords and going into battle, because let's face it, it's the more realistic thing. Seriously, if people decided issues like they do in RPGs then we would be extinct by now. Plus, it has to reward the same amount of XP or more, to be fair.

 

[TheHaunted]

Something that has bothered me ever since a friend pointed it out is how come Nidoqueen can't breed in any of the pokemon games. Nidoking can, so why can't the female variant produce eggs. Do they expect Nidoking to get it on with the tiny little Nidoran female?

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Following on the Fallout 3 one:

How can a super sledge fit into this mailbox? How can this Fatman also fit into the mailbox? A gatling laser, minigun and missile launcher too? How big is this mailbox?

It's a mailbox of holding. kekekekekeke

 

[gmergurl]

In Final Fantasy VIII, I can get the Time Compression, the Sorceresses, the whole schools that are flying machines, plotlines. But, why is it, that when you try to kidnap the President, and it turns out to be a body-double (fair enough), it turns into a ZOMBIE for no reason?

What a better body double than the President's zombie!? lol jk jk, this has always confused me to. I'm assuming however, that it's an excitement thing (*GASP! Oh no! Not a Zombie!) except... well... it's not really that exciting...

 

[Wondermint13]

In many games that favour cinematics...
Why cant I use that awsome move he just did in the cut-scene when I'm playing..??
Back flipping over a guys head and stabbing him and his friend in the back of the neck is far better than taking two turns to whack them on the shoulder or something...