History Main / ComplacentGamingSyndrome

[[folder:Web Originals]]

* Discussed in WebVideo/JonTron's review of ''VideoGame/AquamanBattleForAtlantis'' when he remarks on how the game provides you with a myriad of complex combos to use when simply ButtonMashing is the most effective way to defeat foes:
-->'''[=JonTron=]:''' You see, there is this little thing in game theory called "Dominant Strategy". It tells that if you're given an ultimate method of disposing of obstacles in a game, you're ''always going to use it''! Why even make this complex moves list when you can just one-button-mash your way through the game?
* The vast majority of user shops on ''Website/{{Neopets}}'' will use the Emo Usuki shopkeeper, as having that shopkeeper is the only way to get the Emo Usuki Avatar for use on the Neoboards. If you go to your shop front after changing the shopkeeper, you will lose the avatar until you change it back, so a very large portion of players who care about avatars don't bother using any other shopkeeper.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Earth}}'': In theory, you can go for two approaches: a slow-and-steady strategy where you build an engine and run it for points, or rushing to get the best Fauna bonuses and finishing your tableau first. In practice, the game heavily favours the latter, to the point where good players will usually spend more than half their turns Planting more stuff.

* Often happens to Matt's sessions in ''Webcomic/DorkTower''; even when they try to change games/genres/systems for variety, the gang inevitably falls back to their usual ''Warhamster'' fantasy standby. In one strip, Matt tries to get them out of the rut of Igor always playing a paladin, Ken always playing a cleric, and Carson always playing a halfling thief by launching an oriental-themed campaign. Igor was a lawful-good samurai, Ken was a wise holy man, and Carson was a short daimyo who picked pockets.
* In ''ComicBook/AdventureTimeWithFionnaAndCakeCardWars'', the unbeatable Floop Master turns out to have stumbled upon one GameBreaker opening card combination, and is completely helpless when Cake becomes the first player to find a card that can beat it.

* In a curious example, ''Film/TheGamersDorknessRising'' has Leo, who has decided to break tradition and play a bard named Flynn. However, Flynn turns out to be an insta-kill magnet, so Leo has some friends make up fifty identical back-up bards. Lampshaded later on when Leo throws bard after bard in the way of harmful spells to give Luster enough time to get off a major spell with a long casting time, and afterwards another character suggests they take cover "behind the pile of dead bards". [[note]] There, in fact, exists an official "pile of dead bards" miniature. [[/note]]
** It doesn't help that he plays him like a completely inept Fighter instead of an actual Bard. He doesn't use magic, doesn't inspire his teammates, acts like a fighter despite carrying only a dagger and being unarmored, and has to be continually reminded that he has Bardic Lore that can help give the party information. This is because all of Leo's previous characters were Fighters and he wanted to go for something new:

[[folder:Game Shows]]

* In any given ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' tournament, you can generally expect three out of every four armies to be SpaceMarines. This has a good deal to do with the fact that the Astartes are the ''de facto'' gateway army almost everyone starts out playing (you can get a minimally playable Astartes starter kit as a box set), as well as the fact that they're the only army guaranteed to be updated first every edition due to canonical CreatorsPet status. This has only gotten worse in recent years as variants of the Space Marine list have gotten their own standalone books, so the previous roadblock of buying two books to play one army is now gone. There are now enough books that the company's publishing schedule is basically one marine book for every two non-marine books.

* In ''Literature/TheAvatarChronicles'', where the game is how people get real-life goods and services from the government, there is pretty much one way to play -- play as one of a very few classes, put all your points in strength or intelligence or health, spend hours grinding every day. When the main character, out of desperation, decides to play as a completely unheard-of class and put all his points in beauty, his friends think he's lost his mind - until two {{Non Player Character}}s give him a personal quest and an immensely valuable jewel, of the sort it takes years of leveling to afford, right out of the gate.
* In ''Literature/EndersGame'', most (if not all) of the Battle School commanders use the same formations that have been in place for years, due to fear of launching a failing strategy and tanking their army's standings. Ender's success is mostly due to him realizing this and coming up with new ways to innovate in every battle.

* One of El Disgusto's primary traits in ''Literature/BinderOfShame'' is his refusal to play anything except a [[GratuitousNinja ninja.]] Even if the game is a medieval pseudo-European setting, a ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' campaign set in 1930s America, or ''Franchise/StarTrek.''

* ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'': It can often happen in the franchise as a whole, but Kite suffered this. To be more accurate, he suffered it a bit more in ZEXAL's second season. During season 1, while he relies on his ace Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, at least he was willing to use/showcase other monsters in his deck. Come season 2, Kite almost ALWAYS opens his duels with the same method: Special summon Photon Thrasher and normal summon Photon Crusher, then tribute them both for Galaxy Eyes. A solid strategy to be sure, but the rest of his deck essentially got the shaft.
** His rival, Yuma, is even more a sufferer of this trope - he has dozens of Number and non-Number Xyz monsters, especially towards the end of the series, and his deck is full of cards with variable or changeable levels, meaning he can easily bring them out. In spite of this, he always goes for Aspiring Emperor Hope, only resorting to another Number if he's trying to do something very specific or Hope is off-limits.

* Discussed in ''WebVideo/{{Jontron}}'s'' review of ''VideoGame/AquamanBattleForAtlantis'' when he remarks on how the game provides you with a myriad of complex combos to use when simply ButtonMashing is the most effective way to defeat foes:
-->'''Jontron:''' You see, there is this little thing in game theory called “Dominant Strategy”, it tells that if you’re given an ultimate method of disposing of obstacles in a game, you're ''always going to use it''! Why even make this complex moves list when you can just one-button-mash your way through the game?
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': Roto's only strategy to winning involves [[IHaveYourWife threatening to kill an opponent's loved one]] if they retaliate.[[note]] This leads to him being badly OutGambitted when he's up against [[CunningLikeAFox Kurama]], who has him immobilized [[GreenThumb with a plant]] without him realizing what hit him until it's too late.[[/note]]
-->'''Roto:''' Why go through all the hard work of becoming a better fighter when all you have to do is to press a button?
* In ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'', villain Kamen Rider Durendal has the ability to erase time, creating a period where he can walk around freely while his opponents continue what they'd be doing if he hadn't activated the ability. Used creatively, this power should make Durendal essentially unbeatable[[note]]For an example of a character who uses the same ability more creatively, see ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind''[[/note]]. However, Durendal ''always'' uses his time erasure to walk behind his opponent so he can attack them when time resumes, and once he fails to defeat an opponent this way the first time, they learn to attack behind themselves as soon as he disappears from sight. Durendal's failure to vary his tactics means he walks straight into these counterattacks every single time.
* The vast majority of user shops on ''Website/{{Neopets}}'' will use the Emo Usuki shopkeeper, as having that shopkeeper is the only way to get the Emo Usuki Avatar for use on the Neoboards. If you go to your shop front after changing the shopkeeper, you will lose the avatar until you change it back, so a very large portion of players who care about avatars don't bother using any other shopkeeper.
* The ''Literature/LoneWolf'' gamebooks let you start a book by taking a skill from an available list. If you play from the beginning and thereby acquire [[InfinityPlusOneSword the Sommerswerd]] to bring into later books, then "Weaponskill: Swords" better be taken in order to maximize its use going forward.

* In ''Literature/{{Epic}}'', where the game is how people get real-life goods and services from the government, there is pretty much one way to play - play as one of a very few classes, put all your points in strength or intelligence or health, spend hours grinding every day. When the main character, out of desperation, decides to play as a completely unheard of class and put all his points in beauty, his friends think he's lost his mind - until two {{Non Player Character}}s give him a personal quest and an immensely valuable jewel, of the sort it takes years of leveling to afford, right out of the gate.

->''"Hey Patrick, how come you always do paper?"''

** Also from ''3.5'', with melee builds that don't include the ''[[SupernaturalMartialArts Tome of Battle]]'' rule book, expect every optimizer to immediately point you to a two-handed weapon build, typically a [[{{BFS}} great-weapon]] (''power attack'' focused), [[BladeOnAStick halberd or similar polearm]] (reach with a focus on trips and attacks of Opportunity) or a [[ChainPain spiked chain]] ([[JackOfAllStats both]]).

* Shows up sometimes in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''. The most widespread example is derisively known as "[[FanNickname Turretech]]": take an assault mech armed with long-range energy weapons, park it somewhere with a view of most of the battlefield, shoot things and never move. The game has several canon mechs that play well this way, but the use of custom mech creation leads to even worse issues with mechs that are even more optimized for such play. [[TransformingMecha Land-Air Mechs]] also tended to be used in such a way, so much that when canon [=LAMs=] were brought back to the game after a lengthy absence, the updated rules heavily {{nerf}}ed them so that they were not and couldn't be made into super-powered monsters.

*** Nearly every spellcaster will take the War Caster feat at some point, since the benefits it provides in combat are so useful (advantage on checks to maintain concentration when damaged, making somatic spells easier, and allowing spells to be cast as opportunity attacks) there isn't much reason ''not'' to have it.

** On Magic Online, there was a fan-made variant of the team format Emperor known as "Gent's Rules." The format's targeting restrictions that usually kept the Emperors (the middle players on each three-person team) from targeting each other directly were restricted further so that the Emperors could only affect their teammates, which led to some unlikely cards such as Hundted Wumpus being broken in half. Additionally, there was a gentleman's agreement (hence the name "Gent's Rules") that kept players from playing counterspells, discard, land destruction, or anything else to interfere with the other team's play. The result was a variant with only one strategy allowed: the two flankers would help the Emperor ramp up his mana, then he would help them cheat out big monsters to send at the other team. Since you couldn't stop the other team, it was purely a race to see who could do it first.

* ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'': In 2004, the syndicated version introduced the Switch the Question lifeline. This lifeline was given to contestants for clearing the tenth question, which meant it was used 99% of the time on the eleventh. Switch the Question was retired when the show went into the clock format.

In BoardGame circles, if a gaming group wind up doing this for a particular strategy, it's known as Group Think, and seems to occur when a group collectively decides on a 'best' strategy for a game, however balanced that strategy is against other strategies. The best remedy to it is simply to introduce new blood into the gaming group, or at least for some members of the group to play the game with another group and pick up some new tricks to introduce back into the gaming group suffering from it. Alternatively, it could simply be a GameBreaker that wasn't discovered in playtesting.

Compare JustHereForGodzilla. When players try to enforce their specific playstyle onto others, they become {{Scrub}}s or StopHavingFunGuys.

The trope for limited locales is at AbridgedArenaArray.

Compare DefaultSettingSyndrome, when players keep picking the default options for the game, whether because the alternate options are less balanced or fun, aren't aware they can change the options, or are just ''too lazy'' to change it.

The exact opposite condition, most often induced by a stringently balanced game, is AltItis. Contrast with SelfImposedChallenge.

Games with evolving MetaGame tend to avert this, because as new strategies are learned, characters fall in and out of popularity.

** It doesn't help that he plays him like a completely inept Fighter instead of an actual Bard. He doesn't use magic, inspire his teammates, acts like a fighter despite carrying only a dagger and being unarmored, and has to be continually reminded that he has Bardic Lore that can help give the party information. This comes from all previous characters made by Leo being Fighters and he wanted to go for something new.