What are the biggest possible turn-off in a roguelike?

[Ex]

My tastes really change over time. So, this is just what I feel right now, and it'll probably be different later:

2 Game isn't a roguelike. I used to be okay with experimental "roguelikes", but that was back when most roguelikes were traditional. Now adays there are so many games trying to jump on the "roguelike" bandwagon that have nothing to do with roguelikes, and it really, really bothers me. Sci fi is fine, but make sure it's a ROGUELIKE.

3 Too difficult. I want a game I can play, not a game that is going to make me pull my hair out in frustration. So many games treat ease of difficulty as a bug, and that's a HUGE mistake in my mind. Games should be playable.

3 Building from source. I'm just not going to, sorry. Nothing against your game, but give me binaries.

1 vi keys. They make me want to break my keyboard. I recommend wasd instead.

3 Ego. Some developers make it very clear that they think that their title is going to be the next minecraft, only better and more popular. It really bothers me. I don't mean advertising. I like advertising: it's clever and fun and we all have to do it, but nothing turns me off of a roguelike more than a developer with a massive ego about how important and successful and great their game is/will be.

[TheCreator]

This thread is very interesting to read, but not very useful to a developer. Let's gather all the replies and make a huge poll. It would be nice to see what the majority of players thinks.

[guest509]

That is very interesting Mr. Troll. But the thing is many of the gripes are specific to situation, you know?

Still, how do you make a poll on here? I'll do it.

EDIT: NVM I think I got if figured.

[TheCreator]

Yes, I know, that's one of the main reasons to make a poll . I believe in statistics. Reading all the complaints here can only result in a headache, but with good stats you can always figure out what people really want.

Will anonymous users be able to participate in the poll if it's created here? That would be great, but most likely forum polls are for forum users only.

[Vanguard]

This thread is very interesting to read, but not very useful to a developer. Let's gather all the replies and make a huge poll. It would be nice to see what the majority of players thinks.

I don't like the idea of game design by majority consensus.  That's basically what has brought modern AAA games to where they are.  Threads like this one can be a useful to developers as a source of ideas, but they should never feel bound by what the majority does and doesn't like.  If there's a concept that you know is right for your game, you should do it no matter how unpopular it is.

[Quendus]

That's true for some of these complaints. For others, like having to compile the game or install runtimes, there's no real excuse other than the developer's laziness or obliviousness.

[Vanguard]

Oh, well yeah.

I'm talking about game design decisions, not that sort of thing.

[kraflab]

The problem with looking at gripes, as Jo mentioned, is that they are very situational and strongly dependent on bad experiences in the past.  When people say they don't like mechanic X they are merely saying they don't like implementation Y of mechanic X.  There are no bad mechanics, only misguided implementations.

[Quendus]

Yep. I think this poll is more useful for finding out things you can get away with, not which things you should avoid. For instance: so far no-one has voted for either "no graphics" or "no ASCII", which tells me that there is no problem with coding only your preferred display style.

[guest509]

The problem with looking at gripes, as Jo mentioned, is that they are very situational and strongly dependent on bad experiences in the past.  When people say they don't like mechanic X they are merely saying they don't like implementation Y of mechanic X.  There are no bad mechanics, only misguided implementations.

What's more is that people are probably very often thinking of single game experience, and are just upset about it when they make their list of turn-offs.

[TheCreator]

I don't like the idea of game design by majority consensus.  That's basically what has brought modern AAA games to where they are.  Threads like this one can be a useful to developers as a source of ideas, but they should never feel bound by what the majority does and doesn't like.  If there's a concept that you know is right for your game, you should do it no matter how unpopular it is.

And that's exactly what I had on mind proposing the idea of making a poll. Listening blindly to the voice of majority will eventually result in an average game. One ought to throw in some original ideas, even if they are disliked by many players. The tricky part is not to have too many of them and that's what the poll is for.