RetroSpring ("a thing you can't stand in game design?")
Q: For whoever of the three does the most gaming: What's one thing in game design you cannot stand even if the authors are doing it very deliberately?
Artemis: When they end the story on a cliffhanger that's an obvious set-up for a sequel. It's one thing to leave some things open-ended and leave room for a sequel, but I can't stand games that end on the introduction of a new conflict. There's never a guarantee for a sequel! If the production company goes defunct (such as with Star Wars: Force Unleashed 2) or the game doesn't do well enough to warrant a sequel (such as with Golden Sun: Dark Dawn), then the story feels incomplete and it doesn't feel satisfying to play repeatedly. The worst part about it for us is that it's deliberate by design.