Believe it or not, just a couple of decades ago, no one could even imagine that thousands of people could play a game simultaneously. Not to mention esports and multi-million prize pools. Online games have literally turned the entire electronic entertainment industry upside down. By the way, most of them, unlike regular single-player games, are practically free.
Online games are very engaging. Depending on the genre, they provide players with the opportunity to compete with like-minded individuals in tactical planning, intellectual superiority, reaction speed, strategic thinking, etc. And all would be well, but over time, for some reason, we become so disappointed with online games that we angrily and irrevocably delete everything we initially loved. AdmiGram.com explores the reasons for this.
5 online games that disappoint frustratingly
Gwent: The Witcher Card Game
© Gwent: The Witcher Card Game / CD Projekt RED
CD Projekt RED is, without exaggeration, the best global hit forge today. What is the iconic ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ alone worth? So it’s not surprising that this universe has grown such a huge post-game setting. A separate facet of it is the collectible card game ‘Gwent.’ The game is simply magnificent. The visual part is so captivating that it’s impossible to tear yourself away from the game. But only for the first couple of weeks.
© Gwent: The Witcher Card Game / CD Projekt RED
After playing Gwent for a month, for about two hundred hours, you begin to understand that in the game, for some reason, skill and tactics, as the developers claim, do not play a role, but rather random luck. And this luck is not on your side. The closer you get to the Pro Ladder, the more you notice that everyone is playing with the same decks. Balance? It simply doesn’t exist. There are just foolproof options. And the developers’ stubbornness in compensating for their obvious flaws by introducing new cards and mechanics only exacerbates the situation. And this is not the only reason why after 200-300 hours of play, Gwent is ruthlessly uninstalled from the computer.
Dota 2
© Dota 2 / Valve
Dota 2 is one of the most popular games in the world. Its concept is incredibly interesting: everything begins in the planning stage of the future battle, and it’s crucial to provide your team with an initial tactical advantage. However, even if you gain it, there’s no guarantee that your opponents won’t outplay it with special items, mechanics, tricks, teamwork, etc. It’s all so engaging that a few hours in Dota 2 fly by like a couple of minutes. But all this applies if you’ve been playing with your team for quite some time.
© Dota 2 / Valve
However, when you just solo queue, oh boy, it gets complicated. The first thing that catches your eye is the matchmaking system. In the overwhelming majority of cases, one team is always much stronger than the other. And what about those who intentionally feed, leave, or boost? And toxic behavior and demoralization? All of this becomes so frustrating over time that after spending a couple of thousand hours on the game, we delete it without regret and mourn the fact that we aimlessly wasted almost half a year of our lives on it.
Counter-Strike
© Counter-Strike / Valve
In the early 2000s, this legendary game gave a huge impetus to the development of esports. It was a true phenomenon. Players formed teams, drew up plans, devised assault strategies… It all really resembled training scenarios for special forces units. Millions of YouTube videos and even feature films were made about this game. But all good things cannot last forever.
© Counter-Strike / Valve
Even now, Counter-Strike cannot overcome three crucial things— toxic player behavior, cheats, and exploiting bugs. Of course, all of this is eventually detected and punished, but, as they say, some residue always remains. And banning everyone is simply impossible. All these headshots, wallhacks, aimbots, and griefers are so infuriating that today Counter-Strike holds the record for the highest turnover of players.
EVE Online
© EVE Online / CCP Games
This incredibly interesting and unique game is fundamentally different from all MMOs. In terms of intellectual, strategic, political, and economic components, there are no equals, and probably never will be. Its gameplay concept and mechanics were so unique that, due to the significantly high entry barrier to the game, truly unique individuals played it at the start. However, something went wrong since 2008.
© EVE Online / CCP Games
New “talented” managers, not understanding their target audience, forced developers to literally break established ideas and game mechanics over their knee, doing everything possible to reduce the entry barrier and increase online activity. Where did this lead? People inspired by the works of Stanisław Lem, Dan Simmons, Peter Watts, and other sci-fi authors writing about the boundless cosmos come to the only game in their genre, where they are trying to socialize them with ordinary “kids.” And, as they say, neither of them can coexist in such a cosmos.
Fortnite
© Fortnite / Epic Games
This game caused a real sensation in the world of online entertainment. By borrowing interesting concepts from other projects, Fortnite truly became a pleasant and unique project that was fun and interesting to play, and you could do it absolutely for free. This seriously undermined the online presence of other Battle Royale projects, and many even believed that Fortnite would remain the only one in its genre on the internet. But alas, miracles did not happen.
© Fortnite / Epic Games
In Fortnite, everything seems fine, but players still don’t understand what to do in it — build houses or shoot others. Besides this dilemma, nails in the coffin of the game are driven by one-shot killers, waiters, looters, campers, and, of course, those annoying lags. The developers really try hard, but the game only holds on because new people come to it, not because old ones stay. A couple of months of sweet torment, and Fortnite is forgotten, and then completely uninstalled.
image on top: dota2 via Instagram
