Accessibility:
Often times people complain about accessibility in gaming. Some things may not be accessible enough, content may not be clear or too difficult for the reward that is garnered from it. The big sin though is making a game too accessible. For instance, let’s look at Call of Duty’s online portion. These games are too accessible. This arena-style, arcade combat shooter is so easy to play that you’ve got the basics already figured out, the individual weapons don’t work too terribly different from one another and there is absolutely no learning curve.
As a result the game, for the most part becomes unchallenging and unrewarding pretty quickly. Plenty of games have done this right though. Red Orchestra is a wonderful example of this. The game is designed to be accessible in way where you can understand the basics relatively quickly, however there are nuances to the game and it’s weapons that are not easily seen. For instance, when a player learns how to use a weapons, there is a feeling of achievement that comes with it. It’s this feeling of achievement and progress that keeps gamers interested in the long run. This is why games like Counter-Strike are still popular today.
