#GameUpdates #GamingCommunity #GameImprovements
Have you ever been a fan of a game that started off great, but over time the constant updating and adding of new content actually made the game worse? 🤔 It’s always frustrating when a game you once loved becomes unplayable because of the never-ending stream of updates and new content. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at some games that have fallen victim to this phenomenon and explore why it happens.
##Why Do Game Updates Make Games Worse?
Before we jump into specific examples, let’s take a moment to understand why game updates can sometimes have a negative impact on the overall gaming experience. Here are a few reasons why this phenomenon occurs:
1. **Unintended Consequences**: Sometimes, game updates can inadvertently introduce new bugs or issues that make the game less enjoyable for players.
2. **Overextension**: Developers may focus too much on churning out new content and updates, neglecting to address existing problems or maintain balance within the game.
3. **Poor Design Choices**: New content may introduce game mechanics or systems that disrupt the core gameplay loop, causing frustration for players.
Now that we have a better understanding of why game updates can sometimes have a negative impact, let’s explore some specific examples of games that have suffered from this issue.
##Examples of Games That Got Worse with Constant Updates
###1. Fortnite
Fortnite, the massively popular battle royale game, is an example of a game that has faced criticism for its updates. While the game initially gained a vast following for its engaging gameplay and unique building mechanics, the constant introduction of new weapons, items, and mechanics has led to complaints from the community. Some players argue that the game has become bloated with too much content, making it harder to balance and maintain a fair playing field for all participants.
###2. World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft, a classic MMORPG, has also encountered issues with its constant updates over the years. While the game continuously receives new expansions and content patches, some players feel that the focus on adding new features has come at the expense of maintaining a cohesive and balanced gameplay experience. The game’s ever-increasing level cap and revolving door of gear upgrades have made it more challenging for new and casual players to keep up with the game’s demands.
###3. Call of Duty
The Call of Duty franchise is known for its annual releases and continuous updates to its multiplayer modes. While new maps and weapons are always intended to freshen up the gameplay, some players argue that the constant updates have led to power creep and an imbalanced playing field. Microtransactions for new weapons and gear also contribute to the perception that the game has become more about pay-to-win mechanics than skill-based gameplay.
##Avoiding the Downward Spiral
While the above examples highlight instances of games that have suffered from constant updates, it’s essential to note that not all games fall victim to this phenomenon. Some games manage to strike a balance between providing fresh content and maintaining a fair and enjoyable experience for all players. Here are a few factors that can contribute to maintaining a healthy update cycle:
* **Community Feedback**: Developers should actively listen to player feedback and integrate suggestions for improvements and new content carefully.
* **Balanced Prioritization**: Game updates should aim to address existing issues, maintain balance, and introduce new content in a way that does not disrupt the core gameplay experience.
* **Transparency**: Developers should be transparent about the changes being made and communicate with the community to foster trust and build a positive relationship.
By considering these factors, game developers can avoid the downward spiral that can occur when updates detract from a game’s initial appeal. At the end of the day, the goal should be to provide an enjoyable and fair gaming experience for all players. Whether a game succeeds or falters due to its updates ultimately comes down to how well these principles are upheld.
In conclusion, while game updates can breathe new life into a title and keep players engaged, it’s essential for developers to be mindful of how these updates can impact the overall gaming experience. By striking a balance between providing fresh content and maintaining a fair and enjoyable experience, developers can ensure that game updates enhance the game rather than detract from it.
So, what’s your take on this? Name a game that used to be great but the constant updating adding of new content actually made the game worse? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Overwatch
Team Fortress 2.
I’ve played since 2011, The last 2-3 major updates really missed the mark, specifically the Meet Your Match update.
Back in the day, you could browse community-hosted servers and Valve’s official ones easily. But shortly before Meet Your Match released there was a controversy around the games sprays.
Unlike Counter Strike, TF2’s sprays can be any image; porn, gore, etc. mind you these are (in my experience) not a common occurrence, most sprays are just memes/anime.
It gets worse, the Source Engine downloads every spray on a server to the client machine. So people who made the life-altering mistake of playing on MLP servers would then have a folder of degenerate images that they’d have to manually delete. Even if they never actually *saw* the spray in-game.
So what’d valve do? They took the party/queue system from Mann Vs. Machine (PvE) and slapped it onto the new casual mode, made joining community servers a chore, added a useless XP mechanic that does less than nothing. And a stupid little quiz at the end of each round asking you how it was, which for some reason still hasn’t been removed despite not doing anything.
The queue system was so broken, you’d have to leave & requeue after each match before map votes were added, and still have to manually save/load your search parameters.
The response?
Bots.
Tons and tons of bots. They were in every lobby instantly killing anyone dumb enough to walk out of spawn.
The bot script was eventually put onto GitHub, and they spread like cancer for years.
Nowadays the bots aren’t as bad. In a recent update Valve removed a 90 second cool-down timer from the votekick, allowing gamers to rid the bots before more can join.
I would say most competitive multiplayer games gets worse, because of meta gaming the experience gets worse. The most dedicated players discover the most effective strategies, leaving others to simply follow them
I can’t believe nobody’s said Destiny 2. Not only do they constantly add new content, but in doing so they *delete previous paid content* so you can no longer access content that you bought!
World of Warcraft
Overwatch
Starcraft
Diablo
…Basically every Blizzard IP at this point
Magic the gathering, at least for some people. So many new cards coming out all the time, so many new IPs being added into the card pool, so many powerful cards to push the sale of new sets, etc, and some people are super burned out on it depending on what they like(d), whether it’s a specific competitive format or the game aesthetic or whatever else.
Definitely no free updates there tho.
Modern Warfare 2019. The last CoD game I played. They kept nerfing and buffing weapons every other week. I got sick of loading up the game not knowing how my guns were going to perform, messing with my custom classes.
They added volatiles around every corner in Dying light 2. Terrible choice
7 days to die.
For ever early access every patch is a toss up if it runs well or not. The latest major rebalance makes no sense as well. Instead of getting water bottles you need to ger a dew collector and dumb skill books for skills…
The Culling
Apex Legends
Rainbow Six Siege
Sea Of Thieves.
Most of **what** they add is fine, but every addition makes the servers run worse and worse. Bugs, desync, and hitreg are so bad at this point that guns commonly don’t come out, don’t fire on first click, or a hit does no damage. Now even cannonballs can fail to register on hits, which is **wild.**
Oddly, I think Skyrim fits here as a non-multiplayer example.
Recent updates (the ones associated with Anniversary Edition being the best known) added very, very little in terms of content. Like, nothing of substance really.
But the real problem is all these pointless updates *break mod compatibility*, which is, you know, like the main reason the game still has an active playerbase. So, if Skyrim updates, you now have to wait for all your mods to be updated by their authors, then update them, then pray your save and load order didn’t get fucked. All just to get back to an experience that is as good as the one you were having before the update.
This might be forgivable if the updates were adding features people actually wanted or if they were actually fixing substantial numbers of the bugs that have been there since release, but no. You have to go through all this because Todd wants to add paid mods and fishing.
Robocraft not really sure how to explain it but changing core systems after early access isn’t smart on top of forcing new content in every update even if it could just be a bugfixing update.
GTA Online, putting things like flying bikes with rockets was the worst thing that happened to the game
PUBG.
The game went from glorious and the king of BR to asian mobile game so fast.
Star Wars Galaxies. It had a solid MMORPG base in the beginning, got refined over the first year or so, then took a dramatic down turn after they added jedi to the game. It was the start of that game’s downward death spiral.
Paladins
Started out great and ended up being a mess of heroes, abilities and stuff I don’t know lmao.
Fall guys
Maplestory
Rainbow 6 🙁 I miss old siege
RuneScape, up until they released the oldschool servers because the game stopped being recognizable as the game it’s core audience grew up with and loved. Some people stuck with it, but now OSRS is the more popular game.
Any MMO that hits the cosmetic micro transaction phase (those that start with it are already lost)
The two that hit home for me are Overwatch and basically every Gears game.
For Overwatch they’ve just taken the gameplay in a direction that I find less exciting than when I used to play consistently.
For Gears, every game seems to launch with a strong emphasis on maintaining a careful balance across mid range and close range options with some really interesting ideas and then the devs (both Epic and The Coalition) inevitably cave to the vocal minority of their toxic fan base and repeatedly tweak weapon balance and strip or change features until the game is a bland, uninteresting mess where half the sandbox is useless because the Shotgun is too powerful.
A lot of people would say the original Runescape was that way. Updated the combat system and added skills that a lot of the player base didn’t like which eventually lead to MTX. It got so bad that they released a “legacy” version of the game which reverts all the changes and now it’s a very popular MMO
GTA V used to be 65gb ish, the game go on without any update to the single player (I actually notice worse performance) and now it’s 111gb
Fucking bloat
clash royale
Cube World, only got one big update but it became a completely different game, it lost any real sense of progress and felt like a waste of time to play.
Unpopular opinion? Minecraft. When most of your updates involve A block or A mob that don’t really do anything to flesh out your game, it feels cheap. My friend is constantly buying her kid Minecraft bucks, or whatever, to feed into his game, constantly. One of the highest grossing games of all time…here is the color blue…but we already had blue…yes, but this one is slightly bluer.