When does accessibility become 'hand-holding'?

Recommended Videos

wadark

New member
Dec 22, 2007
397
0
0
PieBrotherTB said:
wadark said:
As many have said it comes down to personal preference. I personally found it very annoying and "hand holdy" that Assassins Creed constantly popped up with the same on-screen tips throughout the entire course of the game. Thank you, AC, but I do recall that the X button stabs people, I don't need to be reminded six thousand times.
But at least we had the option to turn the different elements of the HUD off (okay, so that didn't seem to work as well in Brotherhood and Revelations, but I liked having the option anyway.)
Its kind of like Yahtzee mentioned in one of his videos (I want to say alpha protocol), there are somethings that "having the option to do" doesn't make up for it. Basically, in my opinion, I shouldn't have to select an option to turn off basic hints that are popping up as I kill the final enemy. Just like in that video it shouldn't be an option to allow you to "look all the way up."
 

9thRequiem

New member
Sep 21, 2010
447
0
0
I'll agree with above posters that the big difference is that accessibility tells you to do something, whereas hand-holding forces you to do it.
Personally, I like having a tutorial that is non-forced; I can work at my own pace, and color outside the lines (and/or mess things up).

RTS games are awful for this, and will often only let you click the elements it's currently telling you to. I'm playing the tutorial to find out the specifics of that particular game, and yet it always seems to want to take me through the basics of a general RTS.
 

Sam Warrior

New member
Feb 13, 2010
169
0
0
I imagine this is an exceptionally hard thing for developers to get right, seeing as you have to potentially cater for people who have been playing video games for their whole lives and someone who's never even held a controller before. For me the hints of use the analogue sticks to move and look are totally pointless and kinda irritating but for someone who hasn't played a video game before the analogue sticks are probably something weird. Personally I like games which make the tutorial either skipable or integrate it into the game well. I really like the CoD4:MW tutorial as although it started simply with move look and shoot instructions the assault course was challenging and helped you to gage the appropriate difficulty setting. The first God of War has a very good training level to, as I'm fairly sure your invincible during the first level however the enemies still act normally and you can use all the moves you currently have unlocked.
 

Ranylyn

New member
Nov 5, 2010
136
0
0
Don't get me wrong. I don't mind tutorials if done RIGHT.

Grandia 3 for example, newcomers to the series wouldn't know the difference between selecting Combo or Critical (Combo does more damage, Critical interrupts enemy actions if timed well) and they made it AMUSING. The protagonist's MOTHER was explaining combat and was all like "Kids these days might call this a tutorial." She even went on to say she felt sorry that he kept wailing on poor Soldier A. It made a good impression and ensured I wouldn't forget what I learned (as opposed to my sister who just mashed through it and spammed critical most of the game because "critical hits do more damage in other games."

Mild handholding came later. There's an option you can turn off where allies shout out advice in mid battle. "Yuki! That big one is targeting Ulf! Cancel it!" If you weren't aware of a skill's timing, this was actually very useful, even if it did take a lot of the strategy out, as it even told you "Dahna, only you can save Ulf now!" "Ulf, there's nothing else for it, defend!"


But anyways, in all seriousness....

Accessibility: Lack of "Guide Dang it" moments. You shouldn't need to know to attack specific areas of the floor to find mandatory secret rooms to clear a game, for example.

Handholding: Anything more, past the first few skirmishes. Exception is when a new combat feature is unlocked, in which case, taking a minute to explain the merits is fine. Examples include Yggdra Union and Eternal Sonata.
 

TrevHead

New member
Apr 10, 2011
1,458
0
0
Zachary Amaranth said:
lol if ur hardkor u shudnt yewz faksnwikiz dey r 4 newbz y u h8 handholding if u yews dem

neway y do u care if ppl want n opshun 4 ezr gaemplay hao duz it hrt da hardkor 2 hav a lower teer 4 da noobz
What is this shit? Hey I don't even class myself as a hardcore gamer so you can cut that out.

I just like a certain type of game, and I don't want my gaming experience damaged to make it accessible to everybody. You all rant on about co-op in Dead Space 3 destroying the whole point of a survival horror game, but call ppl elitist idiots when its applied to a game they like. If you want easy mode go play Amalur or something.

Everyone goes on about how every AAA game plays the same and a unique series like Souls comes along and ppl want to destroy the very thing that makes the game unique.
 

Something Amyss

Aswyng and Amyss
Dec 3, 2008
24,759
0
0
TrevHead said:
What is this shit? Hey I don't even class myself as a hardcore gamer so you can cut that out.
semantics bro u r arguing 4 teh sanctity of da challehnge n ur advocating teh faksnwiki.

I just like a certain type of game, and I don't want my gaming experience damaged to make it accessible to everybody.
u no xplane how da ez opshun hrts u in ne wai.

You all rant on about co-op in Dead Space 3 destroying the whole point of a survival horror game, but call ppl elitist idiots when its applied to a game they like.
i dont recall evr claiming ded space wuz runed y u liek stereotypez

If you want easy mode go play Amalur or something.
lol no leetizm thur
 

Hyperone

New member
Nov 30, 2009
83
0
0
It becomes "Hand-Holding" when it directly impedes my ability to enjoy the game (Glares at FFXIII).
 

zerragonoss

New member
Oct 15, 2009
333
0
0
After reading though others people comments I would say it becomes hand-holding when people notice it. This is not to mean that when its obvious it can pop up a window across the hole screen and pause the game, but as long as the player is more focused on trying out this cool new thing they can do than the fact that is stopping them form playing for a second. The opposite is also true, with things like loading screen hints annoying people despite having no possible effect on game flow because they repeat the same thing over and over, so at some point you just think it is obvious.
 

dessertmonkeyjk

New member
Nov 5, 2010
541
0
0
I'm surprised the visual method Angry Birds uses is so simple and straight-forward it's not done more often. Tap on screen = Yellow Bird speeds up. That's all you need to know... now master it.
 

Atmos Duality

New member
Mar 3, 2010
8,473
0
0
Well, when you get "hints" that are less "hints" and more "go this way, idiot".
Especially in any game that chiefly features exploration.

Hand-holding is "we set up this problem for the player, so now let's also solve it for the player".