Why do people hate on multi-disc games?

[Dastardos]

It kills the intensity of the game. Your in a huge battle or intense sequence and all of a sudden a screen comes up that says 'Insert Disk 2' and completely kills what was happening. It does make you feel like you are getting more.

 

[Hookman]

I havent got anything against them. One of my favourite games is a multi-disk game;the X-Files!

 

[meatloaf231]

Changing disks is about the most immersion-shattering thing you can do.

How so? Unless you're a freak who won't stop playing a video game for a second until finishing it, it's about the same as turning the console off; not immersion-breaking, just necessary.

Yes, but often the disk changes come in the middle of plot-intensive parts of the game, and having "Insert disk 2" flash on the screen is about as blunt as just saying "Hey. You're playing a video game. Stop caring about the narrative or the characters."

It's basically the same as walking up to someone engrossed in a book and just yelling at them.

 

[RPJesus]

I don't mind them too much but they are deffinetley immersion breakers and multiple disks either means:
A: More disks/cases to lose
B: Too many disks crammed into one small case (frequently causes damage to disks)
C: A larger case which, while it may not be as annoying, is not done frequently because of how cost-ineffective it is.
D: Disks included in sleeves instead of cases, making them harder to protect, more easily damaged in travel, and easier to lose.

E: If your 4 year old cousin gets ahold of your copy of FFIX (T_T), regular cases are a lot easier to replace.

On the subject, if I ever make a game, it will be 6 discs. The game wil end on the fourth disc and the last two will be Gurren Lagann AMVs or something .

 

[MorganL4]

ahmen

 

[Pigeon_Grenade]

well i Like the long long games, assuming they do it juuuuust right

 

[mark_n_b]

hate on threads are awesome. Thanks for bringing more to the forums. and on multi-disc games srsly?

Well I can't think of a single Blu-Ray multi disc game and I'm wondering how many DVD multi-disc titles there are (no I'm not considering PC games in this assessment, even then)

So bonus points for the passe subject material.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

It's cost-ineffective, it's tedious and it breaks game flow like nothing else.

 

[The Wooster]

Because I sure do love watching Solid Snake smoke for five minutes between levels!

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

Changing disks is about the most immersion-shattering thing you can do.

How so? Unless you're a freak who won't stop playing a video game for a second until finishing it, it's about the same as turning the console off; not immersion-breaking, just necessary.

I second that. Unless they actually put the 'change over' request in the middle of a high tension scene, what's the problem? From what little experience I have on the subject they only come up when you switch from one location to another, which would have a fairly large load time anyway.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

When done properly, it's not that harmful to the gameplay (i.e. disc changes are centered around major plot points) but my main beef is that once one disc is gone, you're done.

To be fair that applies to all games. *pedantry*

What I can't understand, is tho I like WOW, why on earth did they release it on 4 CDs, and then the TBC expansion on another 4 CDs. At least the 2nd expansion came on a DVD.

When you consider how most games now need 1gb of memory, a $100 video card, 10-20gb of hard drive space and a 2ghz processor, who has all that and no dvd drive? Especially when you can get a really nice Pioneer dvd writer for about £20.

 

[Asehujiko]

When done properly, it's not that harmful to the gameplay (i.e. disc changes are centered around major plot points) but my main beef is that once one disc is gone, you're done.

To be fair that applies to all games. *pedantry*

What I can't understand, is tho I like WOW, why on earth did they release it on 4 CDs, and then the TBC expansion on another 4 CDs. At least the 2nd expansion came on a DVD.

When you consider how most games now need 1gb of memory, a $100 video card, 10-20gb of hard drive space and a 2ghz processor, who has all that and no dvd drive? Especially when you can get a really nice Pioneer dvd writer for about £20.

Because it came out in 2004 and back then DVD wasn't as big as it is now. The first expansion also came on CD's to avoid alienating consumers with old computers.

Also, how is disk switching so immersion breaking? You just check up on your install every 5 minutes and that's about it, unless that sandwich you were eating was THAT immersive and your OCD prevents you from finishing it before inserting the next disk, which would have delayed your install by a few minutes or someimes seconds. Don't consoles come wih HD's too these days?

 

[Syntax Error]

Disc Swapping should be only done once. Legend of Dragoon, great game as it may have been, required you to swap discs when you want to revisit some areas. That royally sucked, by the way.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I still feel my point about the amount of hardware needed to run WOW is fairly valid, as it means most machines able to run it would have a dvd drive at least, if not a writer. DVD Roms have been around n cheap a long time.

 

[Splitter]

Never, ever bothered in me the slightest.
Because in all the games i've played, the developers have been intelligent enough to not put the disc-swap in the middle of a cut-scene/epic battle.
Seriously, I've never seen them as a problem, if anything I look forward to enjoying what'll be a suitably long game. And considering the average game length is gettting shorter and shorter, thats a good thing.

 

[stevenrkorea]

Breaks immersion? Really? You play an RPG for like 10 hours on one disc and then you have to switch the disc and complain that it's breaking immersion?

Just don't see it.

 

[Xaryn Mar]

Heh, I'm from the Amiga 500 generation, so changing disks are no stranger to me since you often had to change several times during loading of a game or mission etc. That said I have nothing against it although I play on the PC where it is not a problem I wouldn't mind it on a console, after all whats the big deal? You get a little bit of exercise when you have to change the disk (that is if you have the console far from where you sit).

 

[Xojins]

Changing disks in the middle of the game just breaks flow immensely.

 

[pigeon_of_doom]

I don't see a problem with it. Only a minor inconvenience. Worth the short break in immersion if more content is available because of it.