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[FlanPlan]

Gathering info here so I know what not to do, so please don't be afraid to share anything that you don't like.

Alright, so for myself personally...
Number 1: Definitely bad gameplay. Nothing more needs to be said about that really.

Number 2: I absolutely DESPISE it when you're having a great time and then the unthinkable happens... POLITICS. Yes, I hate politics as it is and when I'm having a good time, it's the last thing I want to hear. The game that comes to mind that does this a lot is DMC Devil May Cry, I know it gets a lot of hate for other reasons and some of the weapons are broke, but it wasn't the gameplay that killed that game for me.

Number 3: I'm not sure what the word for this is, so I'll just say that I hate it when games feel too much like a movie. Not exactly long cut-scenes, but more so that it's focused too much on being flashy. It offers absolutely no replay value and there is nothing worse than a game that keeps taking the controller away from you. There are some games that do it right (MGS4 and the Uncharted series comes to mind,) but a lot don't get it right and it just comes off as trying way too hard to be cool.

Number 4 (This is a bit petty, but just bare with me): Trying way too hard to be different. I don't mind different, different is good. However, some try so hard to be different that it ends up turning into this pool of hipster grease and often ends up being the same as every other game out there. In my opinion, the most creative way to go outside the box is to take what is known and shape it into something different. In other words, don't be afraid to show your influence. There is so much soul in so many games that was created based off of something the developers loved. So ride the love waves friends, because it'll take you far <3 (Kill me for that cheese)


TL:DR Basically the opposite of what Threads Of Fate was.

[ecplav]

Number 1: When they tell you you can make choices, but it ends up having no consequences on the story whatsoever.

Number 2: Romances seen/portrayed as some kind of a perks and awards system.

Number 3: Incompetent voice acting.

[FlanPlan]

Number 1: When they tell you you can make choices, but it ends up having no consequences on the story whatsoever.

Number 2: Romances seen/portrayed as some kind of a perks and awards system.

Number 3: Incompetent voice acting.

Oh my god the choices.
Get asked a yes or no question and either one you pick goes to the same place anyways haha

[Kmany]

I hate games with unredefinable keys.
Especially some of these shitty console ports where switching weapons or doing some other action, is as hard as peeling a potato with one hand..

I hate games, in Early access that had a good structure, and then suddenly they start simplify things too much, and you just can not go back and play them without crying and wishing that the game would be like before.

In MMOs I hate these holiday celebration events..
Where everyone is running around with a Santa hat or similar.. I seriously can not stand them..

Check out my art http://chnyman.darkfolio.com/
Support me on Greenlight http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=645269701

[Dave_C]

I have specific tastes.. so this might not be useful for mass appeal.. just some things that "break" a game for me personally that aren't the usual obvious things like bad controls etc.

1) Games with a weird main character or theme - imagine there is a fun game about Vikings but all the Vikings are penguins that use umbrellas for weapons instead of being actual Vikings using actual weapons, for me, I *usually* won't play something like that. Swords > Umbrellas

2) Adventure / RPG Games that are too linear - I want a reasonable amount of freedom (but not too much, see #5) otherwise I'll get that unsatisfied feeling which leads to feelings of guilt for playing a game I'm not really enjoying, which leads to me stop playing. Mostly, I hate the illusion of Freedom in games.

3) Games that require grinding that are actually really short. I don't mind Grinding if there is plenty to do after I've done said Grinding (nice boss fights, dungeons etc.) If a game is long, a bit of Grinding can add to the overall experience IMO.

4) Games that try multiple genres and force you to play an overly difficult / awkward / badly designed mini-game before you can progress in the main game. Mini games should either be relatively easy or not necessary to complete the game.

5) Games where you feel like you need a strategy guide to play.. I get FOMO when I'm playing games like the Elder Scrolls / Fallout.. I have NO CLUE what to upgrade, what skills I might need etc.. all I have is a constant feeling that I will regret my upgrade decisions and want to start over / quit. A solution would be a "recommended" upgrade button, that may vary depending on character class / play style etc.

[Evilperson]

• "Another settlement needs our help. Here, let me mark it on your map." - Satan
• Lack of sense of progression in Rogue-lite games. Pretty much killed Nuclear Throne for me. What a shame, that was such a good game. Too bad I'm bad.
• The community. Unfortunately the developers can't really do much about that. Undertale, Minecraft, Call of Duty, Counter Strike. It doesn't really break a game for me but I know quite a few people that won't touch the above games because of the communities.
• Sacrificing fun for realism. It makes absolutely no sense. I'd totally buy FIFA 20XX if I could play with power-ups or kick the crap out of people, but no, buzz-words like "The most realistic soccer expierience yet" convinced the majority that Realism = Good. The most realistic soccer expierience? Try going to a park and kick a ball round with your friends.
  Also, Gang Beasts 
  
• Again, not a buzzkill, but as someone who often alt-tabs out of games, the lack of Borderless Window mode.
• Quicksaving. It takes so much challenge out of the game, and it's so tempting to use. I'd be happy if developers at least penalised quicksaving or let it be disabled in the options.

[FlanPlan]

• "Another settlement needs our help. Here, let me mark it on your map." - Satan
• Lack of sense of progression in Rogue-lite games. Pretty much killed Nuclear Throne for me. What a shame, that was such a good game. Too bad I'm bad.
• The community. Unfortunately the developers can't really do much about that. Undertale, Minecraft, Call of Duty, Counter Strike. It doesn't really break a game for me but I know quite a few people that won't touch the above games because of the communities.
• Sacrificing fun for realism. It makes absolutely no sense. I'd totally buy FIFA 20XX if I could play with power-ups or kick the crap out of people, but no, buzz-words like "The most realistic soccer expierience yet" convinced the majority that Realism = Good. The most realistic soccer expierience? Try going to a park and kick a ball round with your friends.
  Also, Gang Beasts 
  
• Again, not a buzzkill, but as someone who often alt-tabs out of games, the lack of Borderless Window mode.
• Quicksaving. It takes so much challenge out of the game, and it's so tempting to use. I'd be happy if developers at least penalised quicksaving or let it be disabled in the options.

I agree with a lot of this haha. The community thing is understandable, but like you said the developer can't do anything about it, but in games like Counter Strike where it's so community based, it's really hard to overlook the community, but still not the fault of a developer haha
I couldn't agree more with quicksaving as well. Like, I'm pretty old school and whenever I'm making a game you get to save whenever I lay down a save point haha also I know I've made the difficulty hard enough when I have problems with it, but can still do it even after I've spent 100+ hours testing it.

[FlanPlan]

I hate games with unredefinable keys.
Especially some of these shitty console ports where switching weapons or doing some other action, is as hard as peeling a potato with one hand..

I hate games, in Early access that had a good structure, and then suddenly they start simplify things too much, and you just can not go back and play them without crying and wishing that the game would be like before.

In MMOs I hate these holiday celebration events..
Where everyone is running around with a Santa hat or similar.. I seriously can not stand them..

I feel you on the early access. I think what happens is that they get some dumb person saying something is too hard to understand so they end up, "fixing" it. I firmly believe in respecting the human mind's ability to comprehend things. 

[FlanPlan]

I have specific tastes.. so this might not be useful for mass appeal.. just some things that "break" a game for me personally that aren't the usual obvious things like bad controls etc.

1) Games with a weird main character or theme - imagine there is a fun game about Vikings but all the Vikings are penguins that use umbrellas for weapons instead of being actual Vikings using actual weapons, for me, I *usually* won't play something like that. Swords > Umbrellas

2) Adventure / RPG Games that are too linear - I want a reasonable amount of freedom (but not too much, see #5) otherwise I'll get that unsatisfied feeling which leads to feelings of guilt for playing a game I'm not really enjoying, which leads to me stop playing. Mostly, I hate the illusion of Freedom in games.

3) Games that require grinding that are actually really short. I don't mind Grinding if there is plenty to do after I've done said Grinding (nice boss fights, dungeons etc.) If a game is long, a bit of Grinding can add to the overall experience IMO.

4) Games that try multiple genres and force you to play an overly difficult / awkward / badly designed mini-game before you can progress in the main game. Mini games should either be relatively easy or not necessary to complete the game.

5) Games where you feel like you need a strategy guide to play.. I get FOMO when I'm playing games like the Elder Scrolls / Fallout.. I have NO CLUE what to upgrade, what skills I might need etc.. all I have is a constant feeling that I will regret my upgrade decisions and want to start over / quit. A solution would be a "recommended" upgrade button, that may vary depending on character class / play style etc.

Yeah, I feel the same way about the games like Elder Scrolls. Not bad games at all, but I really feel like I'm just blindly upgrading and sure they give you a description of what the stats do, but how do you know what's going to help you the most? Which is why RPGs should be made in a way that you can play them literally any way you want.
And one game that comes to mind when speaking of mini games is that part in RE4 where you control Ashley and have to do that puzzle... Oh my God, that felt so forced and unnecessary. Otherwise great game though. 

[Pfotegeist]

I'll go against the grain as usual

The first thing you will notice is everyone at the highest ranks breaking the ToS in online games. If you couldn't reinforce the ToS without volunteer radical moderators who will absolutely abuse moderator privilege, try making a single player game.

Most broken games can still be fun. Real life job simulators with racist cops built in the highways aren't.

[mleta20]

Poor/forced voice acting always kills a game for me. Breaks my immersion for it almost immediately.

[FlanPlan]

Poor/forced voice acting always kills a game for me. Breaks my immersion for it almost immediately.

I think the only game that I couldn't handle the voice acting in was forward to the sky. Great game, just have to mute it haha

[Kyle Preston]

Games where the music and sound design are not in anyway informed by the game itself. It's like being forced to eat pizza and sushi together, great on there own, terrible together.

[DuskedSky]

I think I've mentioned this somewhere before but games filled with dull and repetitive music pieces really make it hard for me to play, especially if it's an RPG. I don't mind an occasional flat/boring track but if that's all the soundtrack offers I usually find myself not wanting to return to the game.

[neutonm]

Well, there aren't specific breakdowns but overall a feeling might occur while playing a game - if it feels like the game has no effort put, made fast and cheap then it will definitely break the game.

Also, this "press X" gazillion times crap while doing basic things like opening a door drives me nuts.

I think I've mentioned this somewhere before but games filled with dull and repetitive music pieces really make it hard for me to play, especially if it's an RPG. I don't mind an occasional flat/boring track but if that's all the soundtrack offers I usually find myself not wanting to return to the game.

Know how it feel.
There were cases in some games where one track that lasts 30-60 sec repeats nonstop and penetrates the ears.

[Michael Klier]

1. Quick Time Events
2. Unbalanced Boss Fights (too easy/too difficult)
3. Boss Fights which aren't really Boss Fights because of Quick Time Events
4. "Scripted Chase Platforming Events" I'm looking at you "Ori And The Blind Forest"
5. Un-skippable long dialog sequences before Quick Time Events
6. filler puzzle mechanics which don't fit to the story or anything else

[Kmany]

Poor/forced voice acting always kills a game for me. Breaks my immersion for it almost immediately.

I think the only game that I couldn't handle the voice acting in was forward to the sky. Great game, just have to mute it haha

Realms of Arcania: Blade of destiny(remake) had some pretty terrible narrator voice..
If the narrator is reading this.. sorry, but it is true, It just did not fit the game imo.

The early Faces of war/Men of war games had pretty bad voice acting too.. They obviously did not speak English and read the lines from some text.. It was more hilarious than gamebreaking tho..

Portrait Wizard on Greenlighthttp://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=645269701

[Clipper]

1.  Long loading times.
2.  When the game tries too hard to be hard, at the expense of quality.
3.  Pixel art & chiptune used as an excuse, and passed off as "retro".
4.  As was mentioned earlier, sacrificing fun for "realism".
5.  Pointless complexity. (sometimes overlaps with 4.)
6.  If there's an SMG whose magazine is located on the side, they always find a way to ruin it by having the user grip the mag like they do in Call of Duty. Not only does it look dopey, but IRL it would probably jam the thing.
7.  Orchestral soundtracks can sound pretty good when done right, but most of the time it sounds just as boring and hackeyed as the aforementioned excuse chiptune.

[Shine Klevit]

It doesn't necessarily break a game for me but I get frustrated when games are padded with ludicrous amounts of sidequests, minigames, etc. This is especially bad if the main portion of the game feels underdeveloped, or poorly balanced. I mean, it does wonders for completion fetishists who will subdue themselves to the most inanely masochistic tasks, but it doesn't do well for me for most games. I mean, the exception is if a game is so good that I really want to delve into it that far, but that's very rare. I mean, it's also not a problem if the actual main game is satisfying enough. However, that's becoming increasingly rare.

As for grinding, I'm going to spin this one a little. Although, I don't think every game needs or should have grinding, I don't mind it as an option. However, I get frustrated when games present the option of grinding, then don't actually reward you for it. I mean, if the game gives you the option of leveling up the weakest characters, or items, or whatever then it should allow you to get them to the point where they can compare to character/items/spells or whatever that you get later on. I mean, that's kind of half the fun of grinding. Then again, this is extremely common, and some of my favorite games do it, so it doesn't always break a game, but can. (Then again, I guess it's not actually grinding technically if you aren't required to do it to proceed. I could be wrong about that one, though).

Anyway, I don't think there's actually one particular thing that can break a game that can't be compensated with the complete package, but those are two things that leave quite a task to be compensated for.

[Pfotegeist]

Myself, if I imagine too hard. I used to have to blame myself for breaking games I played all the time.