Slow travel
When bragging about the size of the game world they created, developers will usually say something like, "It takes two hours for players to run from one end to Jerkoffia to the next!" Which begs the question: why the hell would I want to run for two hours in a video game? Luckily, many developers have recognized how un-fun commuting to a game is and now include options for fast travel in their games. Usually they#DY#ll have some sort of ferry to get you from city to city - very thoughtful RPG#DY#s even include mass transit in the largest town so you can get from one end to the other instantaneously.
This particular problem is bigger in MMORPG#DY#s because they#DY#re subscription-based. The more time the developers can get you to spend on travel, the longer you#DY#ll play and the more money they#DY#ll make. Either that or they all really love jogging, because that#DY#s what you#DY#ll be doing until you scrape together enough money or levels to buy some sort of mount. In World of Warcraft, you buy a land mount at level 40, a faster land mount at 60, a slow flying mount at 70, and finally a fast flying mount when you get your hands on an ass-ton of money. While I do like exploring game worlds, the novelty of the journey wears off after the first time. I think Elder Scrolls: Oblivion had an excellent travel system that allowed players to instantly travel to any location they visited once before.
Awkward inventory
It#DY#s no fun to fritter away hours jogging around the game map, and it#DY#s even less fun to spend time rummaging through your character#DY#s backpack. I#DY#m not talking about games that have detailed inventory systems and require your to customize your equipment; I#DY#m talking about games that give you no assistance in organizing the loads of crap you collect over the course of the game. You know, the games where you have to scroll for ten minutes just to find a health potion (or whatever weird name it goes by in this particular game).
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