Your most conflicting game design choices

[Frogger]

SvennoJ said:

You must be so disappointed they put an elevator in Mont Blanc :) (Well actually the mountain next to it)

Video games don't need a barrier for entry like actual dangerous things eg driving around the Nurburgring. It is a conflicting game design if done poorly, that is putting up roadblocks wihout alternatives. Skill isn't absolute.

I guess we simply differ on the enjoyment of video games. For me understanding is enough to appreciate, mastery is not a goal in general. I don't play games to beat them. That doesn't mean high score attacks aren't fun, there is a time and place for everything. Inflexable roadblocks in story driven games is poor design.

What I'm describing isn't mastery. It's competence. Someone who beats Zelda 1 after 100 deaths isn't hasn't mastered Zelda 1. They are compitent. Someone who speed runs the game without dying is mastery. Not being able to beat Zelda 1 comes from a lack of compitence at the game. If you're not compitent at a game, you don't understand it, meaning you can't appeciate it. You don't get to finish a game you are incompitent at.

Its not poor design. If you want to experience a story with no roadblocks, read a book.