c/great-game-mistakes

Spent 2 hours on a puzzle, the answer was literally in the intro

I was playing a classic point and click adventure from the early 2000s, the kind where you combine a rubber chicken with a pulley to make a zipline. I was stuck on this one door puzzle for two solid hours, trying every weird object combo I could think of, even using the map upside down. Finally I looked up a walkthrough out of pure frustration and it said to just click the door handle. Turns out the tutorial screen from the very start showed the exact same handle design, I completely blew past it. Anyone else ever miss something so obvious that the game basically handed it to you on a plate?

I lost 6 hours to a $3 save corruption bug

My Skyrim file got nuked because I kept quick-saving over the same slot, and the game glitched mid-save during a dragon fight. That was 6 hours of side quests and a full house build gone, poof. Anyone else ever trust the quick save one too many times and pay for it big?

DAE spend 2 hours in Skyrim trying to pick a lock before realizing you had the key in your inventory the whole time?

I kept failing that stupid expert lock in Riften's ratway until my buddy leaned over my shoulder and said 'uh, you have the key right there in your misc tab,' and I felt like an absolute fool.

Still debating if I was the idiot or the random guy in Fallout 76 who followed me for 20 minutes

I was looting a train yard near the Rusty Pick, just grabbing steel and screws. This level 30 marches up and starts shooting at me, not to kill, just to get my attention. He keeps pointing at the roof and spam-pinging some random spot, then drops a bag of fertilizer and screws on the ground. I assume he wants me to help him build something, so I follow him to a workshop like 5 minutes away. He immediately starts the defend event, then runs into a herd of super mutants and dies. I had to fight off the whole wave alone while he just laid there. Was that his idea of asking for backup, or did he expect me to read his mind? Has anyone else had a player try to communicate through violent gestures and it made zero sense?

Spent 6 hours trying to beat the tutorial level in Ghost Recon because I missed the 'crouch' prompt in the corner.

Thought I was terrible at stealth games until my buddy pointed out the tiny text on the loading screen saying 'tap X to crouch', and then the whole thing took about 4 minutes to finish.

Pulled a dumb move in Skyrim by selling my only lockpick set

I mean I was like 20 hours into Skyrim, first time playing, and I sold the lockpick set you get from that first shack because I thought 'hey I don't need this'. Then I hit a master lock chest in some dungeon and couldn't open it for like 3 hours because I had zero lockpicks. My buddy finally told me you can just buy them from any general goods guy for like 20 gold each. I felt like such a fool. Has anyone else sold something crucial early on and regretted it bad?

Spent 4 hours in Breath of the Wild trying to climb a mountain during a thunderstorm

I was playing Zelda Breath of the Wild last week and needed to get to a shrine on top of this huge peak. So I started climbing, rain started pouring, and I kept slipping down every 3 steps. After 4 hours of falling and dying, my girlfriend asked why I didn't just wait for the storm to pass. I felt like such a dummy. Has anyone else wasted a whole afternoon on something dumb like this in a game?

TIL I spent 3 hours in Skyrim trying to jump onto a wagon for a quest

I read a post last week about someone stuck on a Skyrim mission because they couldn't figure out the right path. That reminded me of my own dumb moment back in 2016. I kept trying to leap onto a moving wagon near Whiterun for the 'A Night to Remember' quest, thinking it was a puzzle. Turns out I just needed to talk to a guy standing 20 feet away. Has anyone else wasted way too long overcomplicating a simple objective?

That time I accidentally sold my best weapon in Dark Souls 3 at Firelink Shrine

So there I was at Firelink Shrine last week, cleaning out my inventory after a boss fight. I was clicking through the menu too fast and sold my +10 Claymore to the old lady vendor without even reading the prompt. I didn't notice until I went to equip it for the next area and it was just gone. Cost me 60,000 souls to buy it back because she charges double what she pays you. Has anyone else lost something good because the menu in those games is so clunky?

Spent 30 hours in Skyrim before realizing I could sprint by holding down the left bumper

I kept walking everywhere, even from bandits, and wondered why I was dying so much until a friend watched me play and asked why I wasn't running, has anyone else missed a basic control for that long?

Swapped to fire spells after 200 hours of ice magic in Skyrim

Used to only use frost magic. Thought it was cool. Then I fought a group of Draugr in a snowy cave near Winterhold. They shrugged off my ice spikes like nothing. Swapped to fireball and cleared the room in 30 seconds. Never going back now. Anyone else stick to one element way too long?

DAE spend 3 hours on a supposedly easy quest then realize you skipped the obvious step?

I was playing a RPG last weekend, one of those open world ones with a ton of side missions. There's this one quest where you need to find three hidden keys in a haunted mansion. I searched every room, checked all the drawers, even climbed on the roof like a lunatic. After 3 hours, I finally looked at the quest log again and it literally said 'talk to the ghost in the kitchen' which I had walked past like 5 times. Has anyone else just completely ignored a simple instruction and made everything way harder?

Just realized the 'pause trick' in Breath of the Wild was making fighting worse for me

I used to pause the game every 2 seconds to swap weapons or eat food during fights. Then last week I tried a lynel fight without pausing once. I actually learned its attack patterns and dodged way more. The fight took maybe 4 minutes instead of 10 and I only used one fairy. Now I force myself to only heal between fights or after I get knocked down. My reaction time got so much better in just 3 days. Has anyone else dropped a crutch mechanic and found the game way more fun?

Spent 45 minutes on a stealth mission in Far Cry 5 and then blew myself up with my own proximity mine

I was sneaking through that cult outpost near John's region, had like 8 guys in a perfect choke line. Then I forgot I placed a mine on a car door I opened, zoned back in from checking my phone, and the explosion sent me flying off a cliff. Has anyone else lost a perfect stealth run to something this stupid?

Remember when everyone swore Morrowind was perfect and you were crazy for pointing out bugs?

Back in like 2003 I was telling my friends how my save file kept corrupting after 40 hours because of some memory leak or something. They all told me I must be doing something wrong, that Bethesda doesn't release broken games like that. Took me another 10 years before I found out it was a known issue that never got patched proper. Anybody else get gaslit into thinking your copy was just defective?

Forgot I had a fire spell equipped during a stealth mission

Spent 45 minutes sneaking through a bandit camp in Skyrim, then accidentally hit the wrong button and lit the whole place up like a bonfire. Has anyone else had a single button press ruin an entire run?

Bought a $60 in-game skin for a character I never play

I dropped $60 on a legendary skin for some sniper character in a shooter I grind daily. Logged in the next day and realized I've only used that class twice in 400 hours. Anyone else blow money on something they never touch?

Tried hiding in a bush for 10 minutes and it actually worked

I was playing PUBG on Erangel last week and got pinned down near a house with no gear. Instead of running, I just crawled into a random bush and stayed completely still. Three different squads ran right past me while I watched them battle it out. Has anyone else pulled off a stupid hiding spot that somehow worked?

Just blew up my own ship 3 times in a row in Sea of Thieves trying to do a 'cool' maneuver

I was trying to do a harpoon turn near an outpost in Golden Sands and ended up crashing into a rock, then a dock, then a parked sloop that wasn't even moving. The other crew just stood there watching me fail in real time. Has anyone else tried to show off and ended up looking like a total goof?

Tried to speedrun Ocarina of Time and got wrecked by a cucco

So I thought I'd be slick and do the cucco feather skip to get past Death Mountain early. Spent like 20 minutes getting the timing down only to realize I was on the wrong game version and it doesn't work on mine. Ended up stuck in a loop of chickens attacking me for 10 more minutes while I panicked. Learned my lesson about checking patch notes before attempting glitches lol. Anyone else waste hours on a speedrun trick that just flat out failed?

Just realized I was playing Skyrim wrong for 5 years

I never used the wait button. Like at all. I thought you had to just stand there or fast travel somewhere to pass time. Then my friend watches me wait for a shop to open by just staring at the door for 10 minutes and he's like dude just press T. I felt so dumb. Has anyone else missed something basic like that for way too long?

Spent 3 hours chasing a glitch in Skyrim that was just me forgetting to pick up the key

Found the door to the Thalmor Embassy, spent forever trying to lockpick it, reloading saves, reading forums. Turns out the key was sitting on a table 20 feet behind me the whole time. Who else has wasted an afternoon on something that obvious?

Rant: wasted 40 hours on a Dark Souls boss because I never learned to dodge roll properly

I got all the way to Ornstein and Smough in the first Dark Souls. Died like 50 times. My buddy watched me play and just lost it - I was blocking everything with my shield but never once used the dodge roll. I thought rolling was just for show or something. He showed me how the invincibility frames work and I beat them in like 3 tries after that. All that time suffering for nothing because I skipped the tutorial messages. Anyone else miss something super basic and just power through the wrong way for way too long?

Took me 200 hours in Skyrim to realize you can fast travel from inside caves

Hot take: healing in Overwatch is way harder than DPS, I learned that the hard way

I spent like 6 months playing Soldier 76 and thought I was hot stuff. Then I switched to Mercy for a week and realized I had zero game sense. I kept flying into the enemy team because my positioning was trash. Turns out tracking 5 teammates and 6 enemies at once is totally different from just shooting people. Anyone else find support way harder than they expected?