Comments on: 99 Side Quests On Rails

By: stinio

stinio — Sat, 06 May 2006 00:59:08 +0000

I think it’s going to be really hard to have a goal oriented game that isn’t on rails. Maybe spore will be non-goal-oriented enough to be “open-ended”. I’m sure there are some examples (I don’t know what they are, but my experience is limited), anyone care to list some?

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 15:51:38 +0000

Ah yes. I never flew though. I just jumped miles at a time. Morrowind held my attention for weeks and weeks. Oblivion, merely days. I guess I don’t care about realistic conversations, I get those everyday. I am looking for un-realism in a game. Something I can’t get in day to day life.

By: peterb

peterb — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 13:40:23 +0000

Last night in Morrowind I flew (did I mention that I can fly? I can fly) into an ancient Dwemer ruin serving as a wizard’s tower. I slew the powerful wizard and his minions inside like they were helpless kittens, and stole his wonderful armor. On the way home, I jumped over a mountain range and ate Daedroth like they were canapes.

Mmmmmmm, canapes.

By: daw

daw — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 13:25:51 +0000

Agreed with Andy P. In fact (doubtless you would say because R is computed in such an unnecessarily complicated way, not that I agree) many people have the experience of sort of negative progress, the character getting relatively less powerful with time. Now that’s what I call fun.

Plus also: If I wanted to be surrounded by hordes of other people who are way more badass than me I’d play World of Warcraft. Or for that matter maybe I’d just go to a nightclub. The whole schtick of every single player RPG ever made is the joseph campbell regular person becomes superhero thing, and the fun is becoming the superhero. This is what makes it a game and not a minimum wage job (and, conversely, what makes Star Wars Galaxies a minimum wage job without the wage part, and not a game).

I agree about the sandbox/rails points though.

By: psu

psu — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 13:24:54 +0000

I have not leveled enough in the game to really see how this plays out, but I don’t think the whole world levels with you at exactly the same rate. I certainly had an easier time with the rats last night then I did when I was merely level 2.

By: Andy P

Andy P — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 12:03:46 +0000

“Others don’t like how the world levels with them. Running into bandits and goblins sporting awesome armor and weapons just ruins their gameplay experience because obviously they are the only ones who get to be bad ass. More whining about lost immersion tends to follow.”

I think that’s a little unfair. The criticisms of the levelling system is more along the lines that it’s pointless getting better if everything else gets better too. (R might increase, but it needs to increase RELATIVE TO something to actually be noticeable and worthwhile).

If at the beginning, there were sidequests that were ridiculously hard, but you could later come back to having levelled up; while other quests started out average and were easy by the time you were a psycho-death-wielding maniac; that’s fine. But there’s zero sense of achievement in conquering an enemy horde and gaining a Sword of +3 Killing if suddenly every enemy is wearing Armour of +3 Protection. You might as well have not bothered.