No! Stop! You are not allowed to do that!

[SidingWithTheEnemy]

I tried to imagine what would happen if I could talk to the game itself.

So here are some dialogues bits that would pop up:

Me: But I wanted to go that way...
Game: No, turn around! You are forbidden to go there!
Me: But it looks nice and it's a shortcut!
Game: I don't care, just follow the path and don't stray from it.
*
Me: This flimsy door here is locked, I could use one of my toys to bash through.
Game: NO, go find the key. You can't just barge in like some hooligan.
Me: But I already killed the owner, and his buddies. Bashing through a door isn't much worse in comparison.
Game: I don't care. Go back and fetch the keycard like a good boy.
*
Me: Ouch, that shot just hurts, let me kill this guy and grab his freakin' weapon from his cold dead hands.
Game: No way. That is an evil man with his evil toy. You are not allowed to play with his evil toys.
Me: But I just killed him, they are no longer his toys there are mine now, I even got shot to get them.
Game: No, I won't let you play with those evil toys. They are too dangerous for you, here have some amunition for your underveloped, unsatisfactory and utterly useless sidearm instead.

*
Me: I have already been here. This is boring. Aren't we there yet?
Game: No, this is the only way. You have to go through here again.
Me: I want a second opinion. This backtracking is pointless. Next time let me pick the route.
Game: No it's not pointless. There is new keycard at the - oh look new monsters to fight, so stop whining and kill those monsters (again).

*
Me: Maybe if I crouch I can crawl through here.
Game: No, you can't. You shouldn't play there, the other kids have fun elsewhere.
Me: But the hole is big enough for me to enter, I just need to crawl through.
Game: No, your clothes would get all dirty. Now go inside and finish your homework.
Me: I'm not at school anymore and I don't have any homework!
Game: Don't you dare speak up to me, go inside NOW!

*
Me: Can I date that sexy looking girl outside the shop?
Game: No, you naughty little pervert! Stop thinking such provocative things.
Me: But she is smiling, posing vulgarly while showing off her perfect body almost completely untouched by clothing.
Game: NO sexuality here! Small kids could listen (or even worse)
Me: But she is almost butt naked!
Game: I can't hear you! Lalalalalalalalalalalala

[hr]
Well, is it me, or do I get the feeling I'm getting to old for playing games?
It always seems they are lecturing me what to do (and even worse) what to think!
I was used to this idea back when I was 11 or something but now it's just insulting...

Any thoughts?

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

Depend on kind of games you play though, sounds like a lot of RPG's are that way at times.

 

[Shakomaru]

I think that if we can get an almost perfect ai.... This could be real and awesome.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I'd like to see that. Be impossible to account for everything, of course, but justifications for the obvious problems being planned out in advance would be nice.

 

[D-Ray]

Me: Yes! The final stage! Im almost done!
Game: Nope. Go back through all the stages.
Me: WTF! Let me just defeat this "Tabu" guy.
Game: All of your friends are frozen. Be a hero.
Me: No

 

[ryankarl]

Rainbow Road in Mario Kart Wii.
there are parts of the track that very clearly overlap, but even if you are aimed perfectly, you still get the "falling to your doom" animation.

 

[Twilight_guy]

What's that in a system that is defined by rules and clear goals for winning and failing you have to follow rules and a set path to reach a goal? MADNESS!!

Games are defined by there rules and limitations. A game is not real life, its at best an abstraction. Board games have clear and simple sets of rules that don't resemble life, video games have complex rules that attempt to model real life in some instances. Saying that games are trying to tell you what to think is like saying chess wants to make you think knights move in Ls. If you don't like the limiting rules or have fallen into an uncanny valley of rules then try something else. Games are entertainment and if you're not entertained then forget about it.

As for me, I would consider a talk with a game to basically be a chat with its developers and discussing why certain hings are the way they are. Maybe that's just me though.

 

[SidingWithTheEnemy]

To clarify, this wasn't an RPG (there are lot of RPGs where this happens too though) it was my latest stroll into the FPS genre.

Oh, here is another one that actually almost happened:

***
Game: Go outside and explore!
Me: No, it's boring and you forbid me to go to the interesting areas.
Game: Come on, go outside, you don't know what kind of stuff you may find.
Me: Let me guess it looks brown?
Game: Please, do it! We put so much effort in the details decorating the place!
Me: Sorry, but you forgot respawning enemies and more importantly some thing shiny that grabs my interest, like loot or boobies or something!

 

[SidingWithTheEnemy]

[...]

Games are defined by there rules and limitations. A game is not real life, its at best an abstraction. Board games have clear and simple sets of rules that don't resemble life, video games have complex rules that attempt to model real life in some instances. Saying that games are trying to tell you what to think is like saying chess wants to make you think knights move in Ls. If you don't like the limiting rules or have fallen into an uncanny valley of rules then try something else. Games are entertainment and if you're not entertained then forget about it.
[...]

True, a game should never be like real life.
But the games I experience most of the time create an abstraction a concept but then they don't stay true to their own concept.

An invisible wall cutting me off some areas is simply stupid.
A weapon that can shoot not combustible but explosive lemons can't open a rusty metal door. If it's a "magic" door, or force field, alright, I still be pissed but okay, I cope with that, but not something so completely disrepectful as

shabby wooden door vs. handheld tactical nuke
1 : 0 the door wins.

 

[W3rK]

That sounds exactly like my attempts at playing Rage.

 

[Aircross]

Me: Can't I just climb over this fence?
Game: Nope.avi
Me: Can't I just reason with this guy instead of having to gut him?
Game: Nope.avi

 

[Twilight_guy]

[...]

Games are defined by there rules and limitations. A game is not real life, its at best an abstraction. Board games have clear and simple sets of rules that don't resemble life, video games have complex rules that attempt to model real life in some instances. Saying that games are trying to tell you what to think is like saying chess wants to make you think knights move in Ls. If you don't like the limiting rules or have fallen into an uncanny valley of rules then try something else. Games are entertainment and if you're not entertained then forget about it.
[...]

True, a game should never be like real life.
But the games I experience most of the time create an abstraction a concept but then they don't stay true to their own concept.

An invisible wall cutting me off some areas is simply stupid.
A weapon that can shoot not combustible but explosive lemons can't open a rusty metal door. If it's a "magic" door, or force field, alright, I still be pissed but okay, I cope with that, but not something so completely disrepectful as

shabby wooden door vs. handheld tactical nuke
1 : 0 the door wins.

From a gameplay stand point: Can you open doors? If yes what dot he door look like?
Do the doors you can't open look like the doors you can? If you answer yes for 1 or no for 2 then not being able to open that door is perfectly acceptable. You have not been trained to interact with that door in that way and therefor no rule has been given on door operation and so you can't expect what you do to work. Once you divorce the "but in the real world" from the actual gameplay and mechanics then things become much simpler. (Or would you like your character to slump over and die after getting shot twice because you're following real world rules?).

 

[SidingWithTheEnemy]

[[...]Or would you like your character to slump over and die after getting shot twice because you're following real world rules?.

Actually I would, because then the enemies would finally flinch and start to moan when you hit them. And you can see their tears and the begging for mercy after you shot both kneecaps off and see them crawling away from you.
But I digress...

I do see your point. It's not entirely "but in the real world" it's more like contradicting rules.

>>Establishing a rule:
>>BFG 9000 = Most powerful weapon ever created
>>Eviscerating all enemies in close proximity
>>Explosive Damage to special barrels of fuel
>>Structural Damage?
Hello?
>>None at all
Not making sense, not coherent, self defying call it like you want.

Then we have invisible walls,
And we have NPC standing in your way and not budging one step to let you through, Common enemies die and can be pushed around, NPC? No way.
You might invent all kinds of rules why this is true in this game's universe but that still doesn't make it feel less extraordinary stupid. The is no rule (no rule I ever heard of that is) stating that children are immortal beings that can't be grenaderaped in the Fallout 3 universe. The game pretends that they are mortals but makes them immortal to you. The game pretends this is a shabby half broken mostly rotten door but it makes it impenetrable for any other thing but the very key.

Something different.
Rules in games (board games) normaly try to simplify the game for the player. Instead of having a real life battle with an oger roll d6 and take the numbers.
In videogames that's completely messed up and the other way around. Those limitation rules are not there to simplify the game for the gamers but for the developers who couldn't think of another way to limit your freedom but to put in an invisible wall. You might lock that kind of thing out of thoughts during your playing experience, but I can't do that anymore. I could do that years ago, when I was a kid. Now I simply can't...
It's there, it's obvious and most of the time it's disgusting.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Yar, the white whale was here but it be gone now!

Then... play better games? Your complaining about bad game design issues like poorly placed invisible walls or Fallout's "please don't call us a murder simulator" and then saying you "outgrew" games. That's not outgrowing, that's having enough experience to say why a game sucks. Everything has flaws and bad design if you say that recognizing bad design means you have outgrown it then you're never going to enjoy any form of story media since all media has problems. Congratulations on being more savy on games but let's say that you've grown to dislike the common faults and thus leaving rather then saying you "outgrew it" as if gaming is some sort of phase that people pass through like puberty. I'm sure lots of developers would cry themselves to sleep over that one.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Me: Can't I just climb over this fence?
Game: Nope.avi
Me: Can't I just reason with this guy instead of having to gut him?
Game: Nope.avi

Heard of Deus Ex? Seriously though, this is still on-topic, from what I've played of Deus Ex, it goes against most of the stuff you said. Actually, here's one 'conversation' I had with it after not knowing where the hostages in Battery Park were and giving them some unfriendly fire...

Me: Oh, crap, I just killed all those civilians!
Game: Not a big disaster. But I am kinda disappointed you couldn't find--
Me: I've failed forever!
Game: No, no, you're fine, I just won't give you a bonus lat--
Me: What was I meant to do? Damn, this game is too hard for me!
Game: Stop being a drama q--
Me: Leave me alone!

 

[Fat Hippo]

Rainbow Road in Mario Kart Wii.
there are parts of the track that very clearly overlap, but even if you are aimed perfectly, you still get the "falling to your doom" animation.

True, but at least this keeps those cheap bastards who know the map by heart from taking those damn shortcuts.I assume that's WHY they did that.

 

[Shymer]

Me: Can I date that sexy looking girl outside the shop?
...
Well, is it me, or do I get the feeling I'm getting to old for playing games?

You know you're getting old when you think "She'll catch her death of cold in that." or "Cover yourself up young lady." I don't think you're there yet.

 

[JochemDude]

Snip

Just a hunch, this is about Rage?
Also if you like realism and such try ARMA 2 it's buggy, but you'll probably have a blast with it.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I hate when I can not tell where I am and am not allowed to go without running into an invisible wall or jumping to my death a dozen times. The '08 Prince of Persia game, with an ostensibly "open" environment, was really annoying with this. There were only set specific paths you could take even if it looked like you should be able to get to certain ledges and such from where you were. There were places where you should have been able to jump but the game automatically prevented you from aiming the character in the right direction to be able to do so. There were walls that were just ever so slightly too far away. And the most annoying were the places that you may have been able to actually traverse except that the princess following you around would always get in your way and knock you off the wall if you tried it. I sold that game without ever finishing it.