"Missable" Content

[Anderson88 26]

How do you feel about content that is missable? Like, if you proceed past a certain point in the plot, you won't be able to find that item or fight that enemy any more. Does it take away from your overall game experience if you're too worried about missing something that could have been very valuable? Or does it stress you out when you realize the things you're finding (or not finding) aren't worth much anyway? (inb4 Excalibur II)

 

I suppose it could extend a game's playtime by having players wander around in search of treasure down in that unstable cavern dungeon before it collapses, and stuff like that. 

 

What about games with a completion percentage based on scenes viewed? (Looking at you, Final Fantasy X-2  ) How much does it annoy you when you just beat the final boss and end up with something like a 70% completion rate? And how satisfying is it to complete each of the thousands of criteria to crawl to a 100% completion rate?

[Darkanine 116]

I only really accept it if its a roguelike dungeon crawler,or the point of no return is near the very end of the game (Final dungeon,or final boss room) to add to the feeling of a climatic ending.If the area in question collapsible dungeon,as long as the loot is any better than a  weapon that can be bought or rare healing item,i'm fine with it.

[SirCumferance 28]

I love the idea that there is stuff that you can find that someone else can miss, makes the second time around more interesting, imo

[Tsarmina 2,612]

I like the ability to miss stuff...but not TOO much stuff. I mean, if you hide away a whole treasure trove of amazing, perfectly phenomenal items that disappear if you go past a certain door or something along those lines, I would be: -______-

Still, small things, bonuses, though not boring things like EXP. Try for some rare weapons that can't be bought, or special armors, or doohickeys that you wouldn't be able to buy. Healing items, in my opinion, aren't worth it, especially since you might have to use said healing item just to escape the dungeon because of all the monster beasts who roam there. ^^"

[Vincent 27]

I've always been annoyed by the idea. I don't like being unable to 100% a game after I've gone too far. I makes me even less motivated to play a second time around.

[CatherineH 4]

I feel compelled to follow giant walkthroughs word-for-word. I'd much rather lie on my bed and play without worrying about screwing myself over.

[estriole 326]

i remember in certain FF games (i think it's FF 13. forget which one) i opened up a treasure chest and later read in faqs that if i don't open it i will get better item later in story...

that kind of missable sucks.

 

suikoden have good missable concept. if you pass certain part of time. you'll miss recruiting some characters. but the game give us some free time before that happen. ex: we don't recruit it immediately when we first met him because we don't met the requirement (ex: level too low, str to low)... we leave to continue the story. but later recruit him/her (as long as not surpassing certain time frame).

Edited October 18, 2013 by estriole

[Darkanine 116]

I feel compelled to follow giant walkthroughs word-for-word. I'd much rather lie on my bed and play without worrying about screwing myself over.

That.That is why I could never really get into massive WRPGs.

[Blindga 144]

I'm extremely annoyed by the idea in most cases.

 

In the case of trying to get optional 100% things. Often times it's just a pointless grind. One thing I didn't like about Star Ocean 4 is that there were some different voice unlocks through a little in-game achievement system. But often times these were a massive grind and a pain to get, and they should have already been in the game at the start given that (in my opinion) character victory and battle lines were already very few and tired halfway through the game.

 

As a developer, I wouldn't hold back anything for the sole purpose of having the player grind to get them. It adds little, and, most of the time, the player will just choose to miss out. If you want the player to take their time and be able to play the game again and again, focus on a fun and replayable game rather than filling the game with easily missed collectables and forcing the player to search. It's too easy to lose sight of what should be missable and what shouldn't, and it's seldom worth it in the end anyways.

 

Now, that said, breaking off certain parts of the game and preventing the player from going back to do old things is fine. There are often good functional reasons from preventing the player from going back to old areas in a video game. Or the story may prevent it at times, which isn't a problem either. Though I never did care for the idea that the world could be ending, but the player could freely go back to green green woods outside of home town to search for berries. But that is easily overlooked. If the player can't go to do something they used to be able to do (they missed it), then it should be obvious. Make sure that things make sense so the player doesn't feel like they got cheated, and there's really no problem.

[HakuroDK 11]

Missable content is something that I think is sometimes necessary, and sometimes ridiculously limiting.

 

When it's necessary is, for example, in Persona 4 Golden, if you don't build up social links with certain major characters by a certain date, you miss a lot of opportunity to get different endings because, after that date has come and gone, it's already too late, and you can't just build up social links from 0 to max over the course of a single day. Except for Elizabeth, no Social Link lets you do that.

When it's ridiculously limiting, on the other hand, would be like in Final Fantasy IX, where you have to get to the final map of Memoria before the final boss in under 12 hours in order to earn the sword "Excalibur II". The reason it's silly is because with the sword comes a note from Enkidu to Gilgamesh saying that he left Excalibur II behind because it had a stupid name, and that he would return to give him the Excalipoor. By that logic, the Excalipoor should only be obtainable with those restrictions, and the Excalibur II should always be accessible after that.

As long as it makes sense to the plot for it to be time sensitive, then make it so. If it's important and it fits the theme, even have a character reference the time sensitivity of the event. For example... your game has a special Halloween event that only ever happens once. And a special secret shop opens up ONLY on Halloween. You can have a random NPC or two say "It's Halloween. I wonder if that secret shop is open today..." and/or "Aww... I hate that the Halloween shop is only open on Halloween. It has a bunch of awesome stuff for sale you can't get anywhere else!"

But if it's time-sensitive for the sake of being time-sensitive and for no other reason other than to be a secret easter egg in the game? Then that's kinda not cool.