If you dont solve the puzzle within 10 seconds the game starts giving you obvious tips on how to do it

>if you dont solve the puzzle within 10 seconds the game starts giving you obvious tips on how to do it
Why are AAA games so scared of challenging the player?

...

I was playing Warframe and I was surprised by the lack of guidance at some parts. Felt refreshing for a AAA game.

Because if the player gets bored AT ALL, the player will do something else. There are a fuckload of games on the market.

Sounds like the correct solution here would have been to add some very distinguishing landmarks along that route. Players probably didn't realize they were going in a circle because bland tunnels are bland and all look the same unless you try hard to make certain features stand out. I also have to assume that "half an hour" is an exaggeration.

>know where I have to go but wanna hang around and explore a bit
>"I have to find a way out of here"
>"maybe that door is a way out of here"
>"there must be a way to get out of here"
>"maybe I should try that door over there"
>"maybe that door is a way out of here"
>"I have to find a way out of here"
>"maybe that door is a way out of here"

>eventually a cutscene plays that shows the character walking through the door

are we even playing the same fucking game lmfao

maybe back in january 2013 but not anymore

games.on.net/2012/09/dishonored-interview-arkane-on-stealth-ai-player-choice-and-much-more/

"People would just walk around during playtesting of the 'Lady Boyle' mission," Dishonored executive producer Julien Roby said. "They didn't know what to do. They didn't even go upstairs because a guard told them they couldn't. They'd say, 'Okay, I can't go upstairs.' They wouldn't do anything."

There are these spy missions and when you get to the console you have to figure out how to sneak in all on your own.

yeah, i remember when they were added, there's only fucking 7 or 8 different 'spy areas' and once you learn them you know them forever, and even then, you can just run in and kill everyone and still get there before the timer is out even if you go in 'loud' and the alarms go off because of your retardation

also they're not that hard to figure out especially if you've played ANY and I mean ANY fucking MGS/splintercell/etc.

Max Payne 3 is extremely bad at this. The game even has collectibles that you have to explore the environment for, yet the game tells you to just keep going all the time.

But op was talking about hand holding puzzles, and that puzzle was specifically not hand holding.

To sell games to a wide verity of people instead of limiting the buyers to a collective group of people.

collectables are the worst. if the narrative is telling you your character needs to hurry to escape a building searching around trying to find a piece of a golden gun just seems retarded.

>verity
Hey buddy, you're slow in the head.

Why do people follow rules in games? A guard telling me 'You can't go there' just makes me want to figure out a way to get past him.

I remember some years ago, early xbox360 era, there was this thing that most people who bought games didn't finished them. In theory that puts them off buying new games, since they're supposedly not getting enough bang for their buck.

>Game flat out tells you the answer before you can even have time to solve the puzzle

> "They didn't know what to do. They didn't even go upstairs because a guard told them they couldn't. They'd say, 'Okay, I can't go upstairs.' They wouldn't do anything."
That's because most people have been conditioned into having very little options, so when a guy says "you cant go in" they assume it means "shits locked". Make a proper tutorial showing that your game allows the player more freedom and people will go back to experiment when they find an obstacle.

>Playing The Fractured But Whole
>Cartman reads off a riddle
>Think it over for a few seconds, oh must be Jimbo's
>Start walking that way
>Cartman keeps popping up with more and more hints
>Tells me flat out it's the gun store when I'm standing outside about to walk in

>Camera keeps refocusing on the way out

But the tutorial literally says that there's usually more than one path to an objective, and that some are less obvious than others.

That might be the game making fun of other games for doing that, though. Comedy games are harder to judge.

I didnt play the game nor read the full article, but it says thats what the playtesters were doing in that specific mission, so i assume they had not played the tutorial. But then again, i might be overestimating the intelligence of your average playtester.

Well maybe if they used some creativity and didn't make all the walls look identical that wouldn't have happened.

>overestimating the intelligence of your average playtester
You are.

It's just the free market. The customer is always right after all.