Nothing quite makes up for a pointless grind like a thank you from the developers for 100% a game. If there's no difference from beating Mario 67 at 70 stars and 120 stars, I'd like to know ahead of time.
Also, there's nothing quite like seeing a landscape beyond the window, only to walk 5 feet into an invisible barrier. I think my acceptance level is around, 'Character deems there is nothing beyond/too wild/beyond my interests.'. But I'm not sure.
Oh, if games one megabit large could do it, the bloated beast of a 60 GB game can probably handle MULTIPLE PROFILES.
Cutscenes that do not reflect the current abilities of the player. I think 3 scenes would be plenty. Underleveled, overleveled, and normal. An overpowered PC should just be able to end the boss/capture scene with a swift swing of his gun. Underleveled, sure a conk to the noggin and shoot him into space. And a normal, just have them struggle and then finally continue as normal. But if I manage to make the boss into chunky salsa during gameplay, I'd like that reflected, rather than 'just barely' beating the boss.
No sex choice in games where being male or female would make no difference. Here's mud in your eye, Legend of Zelda.
Time limits for no clear or stated reason. Lookin' at you, Super Mario. Don't know why in 2015 you need to still sweep us along with a virtual pushbroom.
A lack of basic lore. I'm talking simple stuff like days of the week and some holidays. Seeing, "Month: XO Day: XX" in RPGs is a bit rather silly. And I want something more than just, 'This day marks the occasion that 1000 years ago, Dracula went to the corner store for a soda.' Give the world a little context.
In today's games, learning a game as an exercise to the player. I don't want a forced tutorial, but dropping me into a world without even a 'help' menu might be a bit too organic. I'll take my potato without worms, thank you.
Oh, and Random encounters without choice in this day and age. No, a repel like item simply isn't enough, I want to turn off encounters entirely or be given the option to prompt them directly.
Achievements or gameplay elements that are social/multiplayer based. Thanks EA, for making it impossible to 'complete' Ned for Spfeed on Vita because of your dumbass multiplayer achievements.
Redundant crafting & RNG crafting. I don't want an iron broom of +3 pencil pushing with an added bonus against teetotalers, that's just useless. And if I can loot an iron sword from the common grunt, don't allow me to craft one because reasons; it'd just be another menu point I skip over.
Quest items & rewards that cannot be dumped or sold if they are inferior or will no longer hold relevance to the story again. Remember that glass bottle that contained a message that was then handed over way back in...5 minutes into the game? Well, you're 200 hours in and that empty bottle can't be repurposed for anything. It's a worthless memento of your adventure, rather than the artifact armor you're wearing and the bond of your party mates.