Quote: "Can anyone give me tips and/or suggestions on what people are looking for in a game?"
There are generally two camps of thought when it comes to developing games; 1. Make a game that other people will like, 2. Make a game that you (the developer) will like.
Some people will argue that making a game that you like is indulgent and will often only appeal to a minority of people and you should develop for others not yourself, whilst this might seem to make good business sense I personally do not believe that it will result in a good quality game.
To produce something of quality you need to be personally invested in it (as suggested by xplosys/Essal). If you don't enjoy what you're creating then you'll find it hard to maintain the motivation to complete the project.
As previously stated, "Immersion" is key to the overall experience and as such anything that affects continuity in a negative manner (loading screens, changing controls, fmv etc) should be kept to a minimum. Anything that reminds the player that they're playing a game will always detract from immersion. You can however use this to your advantage, for example if you wanted to disorientate the player reversing controls will do this. It's all about designing a game and playing it mentally so you know what the player is experiencing from moment to moment.
Try not to adhere too much to rules laid down by previous games. Most gamesplayers these days have been playing games for a while and will come to any new game with both knowledge and expectations. For example seeing a generic room/corridor with lots of health/ammo packs and a door at the other end screams out that there's lots of enemies on the other side of the door which will ruin any surprise. Mix things up a little and the overall experience will be more likely to feel refreshing to the player.
Hope this is of some help.
Cheers, Rich.
