1.
Stop with the obnoxious DRM. I'll hold my hand up and admit that the first time I played GalCiv2 it was a pirated version. However, seeing the quality of the game and the level of support offered by Stardock, I happily purchased a legal copy. I've also gone on to buy the full release of Object Desktop, places a preorder for SoaSE, and when I get home from work in a week, will buy Dark Avatar. Keep up the good work Stardock!
2.
Don't release games until they're finished. Possibly the single biggest annoyance IMO. But this isn't a new problem, as I can remember at least one game for the N64 that I was forced to return due to save game bugs, and I'm sure that there are earlier examples
3.
Don't forget that not everyone has brand-new hardware. While this doesn't strictly apply to myself as I am lucky enough to be able to afford whatever hardware I want, I do find it annoying that I can't play new multiplayer games against my friends whose systems aren't upgraded so regularly. However, I also recognise the need to push the envelope every now and again. Lets just hope that the 'Crysis Syndrome' is a one off rather than becoming the norm.
4.
Fun trumps graphics. I couldn't agree more. I am also lucky enough to have a Wii at work, and the simplistic, intuitive nature of the games that Nintendo are releasing makes it easy to understand why they currently dominate the console market.
5.
Expansion packs should not be glorified patches. It should be self evident by the title 'expansion' that these should add significant amounts of new content rather than simply fixing existing problems. And in all fairness to THQ and Relic, the DoW expansions have always added hefty amounts of new features, even if they chose not to directly patch Dark Crusade this time round.
6.
Help Jack Thompson find a real hobby. Those of you who don't understand this, simply search for this guy on Wikipedia. In one sentence, he is the guy who does the most to make gamers look bad.
7.
Please make a sequel to Planetscape: Torment. Please do NOT make a sequel, but please DO make another game in the same setting. Too many games have been set in the traditional D&D Forgotten Realms settings (at least 7 that I can think of), so something different would be nice.
8.
Make better user manuals. I remember being given Civ2 for Christmas off my parents. I opened the box and the manual included was a veritable encyclopedia of useful knowledge. I miss that. Sadly, here in the UK at least, all games are now shipped in standard DVD cases instead of cardboard boxes, meaning that manuals are always going to be somewhat limited in size.
9.
We don't need every movie to have a game tie-in. Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros, Tomb Raider (despite starring Angelina Jolie
), Resident Evil (despite starring Milla Jovovich
), Bloodrayne. I've seen most movies based on games and pretty much without exception, none of them are good. However, I will continue to go to the cinema to see these films in the hope that someone eventually gets one right.
10.
Don't make me be on-line to play your game if it's a single player game. Why in the name of all that is good in games, should I be forced to find a wireless internet connection to play something on my laptop!?!?
I know I'm early but Happy Winter-een-mas everyone!
http://www.wintereenmas.com/EDIT: forget waiting to get home. I've just bought DA and TotA. Impatience is rarely a virtue.
